Toronto mayor calls for ‘systemic changes’ amid allegations of police corruption

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow speaks following a Feb. 5 news conference bout the arrest of eight Toronto police officers in an organized crime and corruption probe.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is calling for “systemic changes” following the arrest of several Toronto police officers in an organized crime and corruption probe.

Speaking following an unrelated news conference, she said Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw must earn trust back “by rooting out officers who have committed crimes and make the necessary systemic changes” after the completion of an independent review that he has requested.

“(Torontonians) deserve to know that the police officers they deal with every day can be trusted, not corrupt, and acting with integrity,” Chow said.

On Thursday morning, York Regional Police announced that seven active Toronto police officers and one retired officer have been arrested and charged in connection with the months-long investigation.

Dubbed Project South, the investigation began after police became aware of an alleged plot to murder a corrections officer.

Nineteen other people are also facing charges in connection with the investigation.

Reading from a prepared statement, Chow said that any police officer found to have committed crimes will be punished and that any officer working with organized crime “deserves to be thrown in jail.”

“Public trust in policing is fundamental,” she said.

Chow said the arrests would have no impact on the already agreed-upon $93 million budget increase for the Toronto Police Service (TPS).

She added that she’ll be meeting with Demkiw and the board chair later today.

• READ MORE: ‘Painful and unsettling’: Allegations against Toronto cops ‘shake the very foundation of trust’ Demkiw says

Confirmation of the arrest of the officers came just minutes before Chow spoke at the news conference in downtown Toronto’s Gay Village to mark the 45^th anniversary of the Toronto Bathhouse Raids, another significant breach of trust that occurred between police and community.

TPS Board chair weighs in

Speaking with reporters at Toronto police headquarters late Thursday afternoon, TPS Board Chair Shelley Carroll was shocked to learn of these allegations, which she said raise “serious public concerns related to police integrity and public safety.”

“Public trust in policing is fundamental from the board. The Toronto Police Service Board holds all members of the Toronto Police Service accountable to high standards of professionalism, integrity, and utmost accountability,” she said.

“These allegations of criminal conduct are taken extremely seriously by the board.”

The long-time North York councillor said due to the “gravity of the allegations and the broader concerns they raise,” both the police and the chief have asked the Ontario Inspector General of Policing to undertake a “credible and transparent assessment to identify some of the steps needed to strengthen our accountability and public safety.”

She said she’s optimistic the board will receive a response from the policing inspector “very quickly.”

• READ MORE: Independent investigation called for after Toronto officers charged in organized-crime probe

Carroll further reiterated the board’s commitment to “ensuring that the Toronto Police Service reflects the values of the community that we serve, that it serves all members, and that the members remain accountable to uphold the laws that they were sworn to uphold.”

“I also want to emphasize that every day we know that 1000s of members, both uniformed and civilian, in the Toronto Police Service. they carry out demanding, sometimes unseen work on behalf of the community that they are here to protect. They are guaranteeing our public safety, and we recognize that,” she said, adding these arrests should not have any bearing on whether or not the police budget should be increased.

Carroll went on to say that the TPS Board recognizes that today is a “very difficult day” for the members of the force and recognizes their “professionalism and commitment to continue to underpin the delivery of public safety in the city of Toronto, which is absolutely not to be taken for granted.”

Ontario’s Liberals, meanwhile, want to go a step further with a judicial inquiry.

It’s a process their public safety critic says had guardrails.

“Judges and lawyers and people who know this and people who will have faith that what needs to be done is actually being done,” Kanata-Carleton MPP Karen McCrimmon said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was asked about that call for a judicial inquiry. He didn’t indicate that he does intend to call one.

Allegations ‘very disappointing,’ says Ford

During a separate media availability in Etobicoke on Thursday afternoon, Ford called the allegations “disturbing”

“(We) don’t want to paint a broad brush or tarnish the police. We have phenomenal police officers,” he said.

“When they get sworn in and they get their badge, they have a duty and it’s very disappointing to hear what’s been going on. But I don’t want the public to lose trust in our great police because they are incredible.”

The Premier added that in any large organization there are “always a few bad apples” and that it will ultimately be up to the courts to weigh in on the allegations against these officers.

Ford, however, did appear to take issue with the fact that only four of the seven arrested officers were suspended without pay, calling it a “little bump in the road.”

According to the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA), which came into effect on April 1, 2024, chiefs of police have jurisdiction over suspending officers without pay. Previously, paid suspension was required in most cases.

Ford said he’s “confident” Demkiw will “make the right decision” on this matter for the other three officers who were arrested.

“I don’t direct the police, and that’s going to be up to (Demkiw) to make those decisions,” the premier said.

“He understands the investigation and I have all the confidence he’ll continue doing an incredible job for the people of Toronto, and along with Chief (Jim) McSween, doing an incredible job for the people of York Region.”

PAO comments on suspension without pay

The Police Association of Ontario (PAO), which represents 46 police associations across the province except for the one in Toronto, noted that the aforementioned legislation gives police chiefs the authority to suspend police officers without pay when they are charged with a serious offence and where the alleged offence was not committed in relation to the performance of the officer’s duty, when an officer is in custody, or when judicial interim release conditions substantially interfere with the police officer’s ability to perform the duties of a police officer.

“These provisions, detailed in the CSPA and replacing the previous legislative framework, are designed to ensure accountability while protecting public trust,” Mark Baxter, PAO’s president, said in a written statement.

“Suspension without pay is the most serious interim measure available, resulting in significant financial, professional, and reputational consequences for the officer involved.”

Baxter noted that charging an officer with an offence is “serious, which is why this provision is reserved for exceptional circumstances.”

“It remains essential to strike a careful balance between addressing alleged misconduct and ensuring that an officer’s right to due process and the presumption of innocence are fully respected,” he said.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Siobhan Morris