A TTC enforcement officer misrepresented themselves as a member of the police force last July and improperly shared evidence of a case that was before the courts, while in November another officer was found to have engaged in “inappropriate conduct with a subordinate at an off-duty gathering,” according to the transit agency.

Those incidents are among four complaints made against members of the TTC’s transit enforcement unit in 2018 that the agency determined were substantiated.

According to a report tabled at a TTC board meeting Wednesday, in 2018 there were a total of 192 complaints or concerns lodged against members of the transit enforcement unit, which is made up of fare inspectors and enforcement officers.

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In another incident deemed substantiated, a fare inspector was found to have engaged in deceit by improperly completing a notebook entry in September, the agency said. Seven months earlier another inspector “engaged in discreditable conduct by smiling at a time that could have been considered the climax of a tense interaction between himself and a customer.”

Transit agency spokesperson Stuart Green said he couldn’t provide any details about the four complaints deemed substantiated that would risk identifying the employees involved.

However, the complaint about the smiling inspector matches the TTC’s previous description of an employee’s behaviour prior to a physical altercation in February 2018 that resulted in transit officers pinning a young Black rider to the ground at a streetcar stop.

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The agency has said the inspector who was the subject of that complaint resigned for “unrelated reasons.” The passenger who was pinned is suing the TTC, alleging racial profiling.

According to the report, the most common complaints in 2018 related to officers’ “perceived demeanour, attitude or courtesy” during interactions with customers, which made up 109 complaints.

The unit received 33 complaints related to harassment or discrimination, 15 of which were related to race.

A majority of all complaints received were either abandoned by the complainant or settled without a formal investigation through the TTC’s local resolution process.

Fare inspectors patrol the transit system and enforce fare rules, while enforcement officers are charged with ensuring the security of the TTC and are designated special constables with limited police powers. As of the end of last year, the transit agency had 63 fare inspectors and 56 enforcement officers.

In the complaint about the transit officer who misrepresented themselves as a police officer, Green said he couldn’t reveal to whom the person had misrepresented themselves, or what the incident before the courts was. But he said the case was ongoing and “is being dealt with outside the City of Toronto.”

Green said discipline meted out to the four officers involved in substantiated complaints would vary “based on our internal review.” Of the four officers involved in the complaints, two have resigned and the other two are still employed at the TTC.

The 192 complaints registered last year represent a fraction of interactions between transit officers and the public — the enforcement unit conducted roughly 3.5 million fare inspections last year and issued 23,000 tickets and cautions.

Last year’s complaint total was a 41 per cent increase from the 136 received in 2017. In 2016, the first year the TTC began reliably tracking complaints, there were about 135.

Green said “any increase in complaints is of concern” to the TTC, but what would be more troubling is if the number of substantiated complaints was on the rise. That isn’t the case — in 2017 there were also four substantiated complaints.

Green suggested the increase in overall complaints last year may have been related to the TTC hiring 23 more fare inspectors, about a third of its contingent.

“We take all complaints seriously and review them all as a matter of good practice. Where there are opportunities to learn from these incidents, that would be reflected in revised training,” he said.

The transit enforcement unit faced questions about discrimination earlier this year after a Star investigation found its members disproportionately collect personal information from Black riders when issuing cautions for fare evasion or other offences. The agency is reviewing the unit’s policies around collecting passengers’ information. The TTC denies it is engaged in any form of discrimination.

According to a separate report going to the board Wednesday, the transit enforcement unit reported 67 incidents last year in which officers used force against a subject.