Mayor Olivia Chow says the city will “spare no expense” in implementing the recommendations stemming from a provincewide investigation into police corruption.
“We will take action and make sure that the public trust is regained,” Chow said at an unrelated press conference on Thursday after the Star published newly unsealed details from court documents about the Project South investigation.
The allegations revealed new depths to one of the biggest corruption scandals in the city’s history, uncovering alleged ties to organized crime, drug dealing amongst officers, casual bribe-taking and flagrant misuse of police databases.
The officer at the heart of the case, Const. Timothy Barnhardt, is accused of conspiring to open illegal weed dispensaries and erotic massage parlours, allegedly recruiting fellow officers to look the other way and put the squeeze on competitors in return for envelopes of cash.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
In early February, following the arrests of Barnhardt and six other active Toronto officers, Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw and the Toronto Police Service Board, which oversees the force, wrote to the province’s inspector general of policing, Ryan Teschner, requesting an external investigation. The inspectorate announced retired Court of Appeal Justice William Hourigan would take on the probe in April.
The former judge and his team are tasked with expanding the focus of the investigation to all Ontario police services, not just Toronto’s, and will cover four major areas: supervision of officers; screening of officers recruited to various forces; access to police databases; and management of evidence and police property.
Chow, who is facing re-election this fall, said it is important that the board also work to rebuild public trust with the community, crediting outreach by her appointed board chair, Coun. Shelley Carroll, and vice-chair Chris Brillinger, as well as what she said was a reinvestment in neighbourhood policing.
In a statement to the Star Thursday, Chief Demkiw said he had “zero tolerance” for corruption within his force.
“Wearing this uniform is a privilege,” he said in an emailed statement. “The overwhelming majority of our members serve this city every day with honour, integrity and professionalism.”
“They deserve to work in a Service where those standards are upheld, and the people of Toronto deserve a police service they can trust. If anyone chooses to engage in corruption, my message is simple: we will find you, investigate you, and hold you accountable.”
Following the revelations about alleged corrupt activity by a number of his officers, Demkiw vowed to increase the capacity of the Professional Standards Unit that investigates internally, as well as a new “Accountability and Compliance Team” which Toronto police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer said Thursday is “conducting inspections across the organization and engaging directly with divisions, supervisors and members.”
In addition, two simultaneous projects focused on anti-corruption and strengthening ethical standards within the service are currently underway, Sayer said.
The chief is expected to provide an update to the board in November on the progress of each initiative to-date.
Clayton Campbell, the president of the Toronto Police Association which represents almost 9,000 uniformed officers, said in an emailed statement that the majority of the force should “not be questioned because of allegations involving approximately 0.08 per cent of our membership.”
“Our members are equally frustrated and disappointed,” he said.
He said he is also concerned about officers not criminally charged as part of Project South being named in the press.
“To our knowledge, some have also not faced any related disciplinary proceeding. Publishing their names alongside serious and untested allegations risks compromising their professional reputations, privacy and personal safety,” Campbell said.
Chow’s top rivals in the upcoming municipal election also weighed in on the details revealed about alleged corrupt and criminal practices, with Beaches-East York Coun. Brad Bradford continuing to criticize Chow for not sitting on the police board herself.
“It’s a dereliction of duty,” he said at an unrelated, separate press conference on Thursday. “She’s abdicated that responsibility and I think that’s mayoral malpractice.”
Bradford said he supports the neighbourhood officer program as one that can build trust in the community, in spite of the fact that two of the officers charged in Project South had been assigned to that program in 12 Division at one time.
“Obviously allegations of this nature undermine that, and it’s not good,” he said.
Chris Alexander, a former Conservative MP for Ajax-Pickering, said in an emailed response to questions about the latest revelations that public trust is lost when corruption is “hidden or tolerated.”
“When this is found and those responsible answer for it, that is how trust is built,” he said. “As Mayor, I won’t just protect that transparency, I’ll demand more of it.”
With files from Mahdis Habibinia, Ben Cohen and Ben Spurr
