Toronto police chief under investigation over crack tape remark

CTV Toronto: Chief of police investigated Tamara Cherry explains that Toronto's chief of police is being looked at for a possible violation of the Police Services Act.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair is being investigated by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director over a complaint by Coun. Doug Ford.

The investigation was launched after the Toronto Police Services Board said Blair may have violated a section of the police act when he made a comment about a video that allegedly shows Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine.

Ford has admitted to smoking crack, saying it likely happened while he was in a “drunken stupor.”

“I think it’s fair to say that the mayor does appear in that video,” Blair said in a news conference on Oct. 31. When asked if he was shocked, Blair replied, “I’m disappointed.”

Doug Ford, city councillor and brother to the mayor, told CTV Toronto he felt Blair had shown a bias that day. “He’s definitely stepped over the line.”

Ford also launched a formal complaint to the Toronto Police Services Board.

When asked about the comment in a year-end interview, Blair told CTV Toronto, “It was in the public interest to acknowledge that we had recovered a video file and not to release the particulars of that evidence.”

In a letter dated Feb. 21. The Office of the Independent Police Review Board told Ford that the TPSB had reviewed his complaint and determined “the conduct alleged against Chief Blair may constitute misconduct,” CTV Toronto’s Tamara Cherry said.

The OIPRB, a civilian oversight agency that deals with public complaints, is looking in to the chief’s conduct as a result.

Sources told CP24 that Ford’s complaint also cited a fishing trip Blair allegedly made with Andy Pringle, a member of the Police Services Board. Pringle was the former chief of staff to John Tory when he was the Ontario Progressive Conservative leader.

Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash told CTV Toronto that police will not comment on the investigation.

With files from CP24 and CTV Toronto’s Tamara Cherry