Prof. Kate Puddister, Department of Political Science, spoke to the Toronto Star about the case of a Toronto police officer and his brother who are charged in a high-profile assault case.

Lawyers for the victim allege that two police forces attempted to protect the accused officer and his brother from criminal charges and then failed to inform Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, about the assault incident.

Few details about the alleged assault are known, as evidence from the case’s preliminary inquiry was subject to a court-ordered publication ban.

Puddister, who specializes in police accountability, said she thinks the case will attract a lot of attention because the allegations raised “speak to larger issues in the justice system in general, and police oversight in particular.”

She researches many issues related to courts, law and politics and criminal justice policy, including police oversight bodies, and the use of reference cases in Canadian courts of appeal.