The crown continues its cross examination of Hamilton police officer Craig Ruthowsky

The crown lawyer who is prosecuting Hamilton police officer Craig Ruthowsky is accusing him of falsifying police notes to corroborate his stories about his informants. Ruthowsky is accused of taking money from drug dealers in exchange for protection from the legal system.

Ruthowsky’s police notebooks were seized when he was suspended in 2012 and they don’t contain information about the supposed informant who is the main witness in this case. Ruthowsky’s case files do mention the man but those files have been in his basement since 2012 because he took them home and the added notes have been written on paper scraps torn from notebooks. Ruthowsky admitted he reviewed those files in preparation for court.

The crown also got Ruthowsky to admit he would warn informants when he was about to execute a search warrant, like when he was on his way to a grow op in Stoney Creek in 2011. Ruthowsky said he didn’t want to encounter his informants and have to arrest them.

“If you start arresting your informants, people won’t help the police.”

“So, you were essentially giving them licence to offend?” the crown asked. Ruthowsky said he was trying to arrest more serious criminals.

Earlier in the trial Ruthowsky testified that he left the Hamilton police drug unit because he wanted to work with the gang unit, he liked cocaine and guns, he said. Today though, the jury learned that Ruthowsky was forced out of the drug squad and put back on uniform patrol for a time because he was accused of mishandling evidence. Ruthowsky said sanctions were over a piece of paper he threw out, but the jury heard no further details.

The trial continues tomorrow.