Pity Rob Ford’s security detail. Toronto’s mayor is notorious not only for his travelling road show of bizarre antics but also for a propensity to throw himself into the fray, charging through thick ranks of media clamoring for comment on his latest pratfall.

Inevitably, people get shoved out of the way as city hall security staff do their flying wedge thing for Hizzoner, trying to steer him past reporters, cameras, sound gear and the occasional heckler — bare-chested or not — to elevators, cars and other escape routes, attemping to shield his high office from any extra embarrassment.

But there’s a fine line between providing city hall security and acting like celebrity-bodyguard goons.

Complaints about aggressive behaviour are piling up not only from ink-stained wretches but also from the public and city staff. As the Star’s David Rider reports, in one nasty incident a Globe and Mail photographer was needlessly shoved by Ford as the mayor charged off yelling “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” surrounded by his security detail. Security officers have also run interference for the mayor by shielding cameras and blocking access in public areas.

Given this security overkill it’s good to see Toronto ombudsman Fiona Crean taking the growing stack of complaints seriously and launching a probe. Whatever she concludes, this should serve as a reminder that Toronto security staff are expected to act with civility, impartiality and restraint, with an eye not only to protecting the mayor but also other elected officials, the public, civil servants and, yes, even the media. They are city employees, not personal bodyguards, and should behave accordingly. That’s the message Crean’s investigation conveys. It’s a point worth hammering home in the circus that city hall has become.

It’s also good news that city councillors are reportedly open to putting off any decision on reappointing Crean to a new term, until after the municipal elections in the fall. That means a fresh crop of incoming councillors will get the final say. That’s a potential plus for Crean because she needs a supermajority to be reappointed, 30 of 45 councillors, and she doesn’t have that much support with the current council.

As the Star has written before, Crean is a model civil servant who has done a good job of investigating complaints about this city’s governance, under trying circumstances. She has exposed Toronto’s flawed municipal appointments process, a failure of leadership at the community housing corporation, and other shortcomings. She has earned a reappointment.