Toronto police chief says work is already underway in response to corruption probe
CBC
Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw said “a lot of work is already underway” to strengthen accountability in the force at the police board’s first meeting since multiple officers were charged last month in a wide-ranging crime and corruption probe.
Demkiw announced two projects Wednesday that he said will strengthen responsibility and public trust following the investigation by York Regional Police last month: one focused on anti-corruption and another aimed at improving workplace culture.
“This is a pivotal moment for us at the Toronto Police Service," said Demkiw.
"And we promise our members and members of the public that our response will be swift, clear-eyed and decisive."
The anti-corruption project will work on the same five areas that Demkiw and Toronto police board chair Shelley Carroll asked Ontario’s inspector general of policing to investigate last month.
The five areas are:
Demkiw said the other project, called One TPS, will reinforce ethical behaviours across all ranks and roles in the force and strengthen professional culture, focusing on five work streams:
Details about both the projects were presented by Shannon Dawson and Brett Nicol, chief superintendents with the Toronto police. They said both projects are expected to operate for a minimum of two years.
Both projects will be staffed by small, full-time teams made up of "uniform and/or civilian members of the service," according to a public report submitted by Demkiw to the police board. The report does not mention how much these projects are expected to cost.
When asked by Chris Brillinger, the board's vice-chair, on whether the projects will overlap with the work that the inspector general will already be doing, Demkiw said the force would be "remiss" if it didn't look for opportunities where it could make immediate improvements.
Demkiw told the board that he has spent the past month personally addressing senior leadership in the force on conduct and expectations.
“We’ve already strengthened supervision where needed, and this work will continue across the service,” he said.
In particular, supervision was strengthened at 12 Division, according to a Toronto police news release Wednesday. That division is where a number of the charged officers are from, including Const. Timothy Barnhardt, who’s been described as the “genesis” of the months-long corruption probe.
Barnhardt is the only officer who is being held in custody. He was denied bail and faces 17 charges, the most out of all the officers involved.
The billionaire U.S. owners of the busiest land border crossing in North America turned to a high-powered lobbying firm run by former top aides to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in recent years, records show.
Students across the province are protesting recent changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) — the post-secondary financial aid system will go from a majority grant structure to a majority loan structure in the new school year.
A program at the University of Prince Edward Island that trains future French teachers once struggled to find students, but it's now seeing more interest than ever.
All school purpose vehicles outside of London, Ont. are cancelled Wednesday morning due to a thick blanket of fog causing poor visibility on the roads.
Gas prices in the Greater Toronto Area jumped six cents on Wednesday, with experts warning more increases are expected in the days ahead due to the U.S. and Israel-Iran war.
Albertans listening to the U.S. president’s state of the union address last week may have experienced a sense of deja vu when it came to Donald Trump’s plans for AI data centres: “We’re telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs.”
A prominent labour organization in Newfoundland and Labrador that was pushing hard for topsides construction contracts on the Bay du Nord production vessel says a plan to invest in a massive floating dry dock will more than offset the loss of any work on the topsides.
Some Iranians in Sudbury, Ont., say they are ecstatic about recent attacks from the United States and Israel against Iran.
A Nova Scotia family is speaking out after two masked intruders entered a Halifax-area high school and violently attacked a Grade 9 student, prompting concerns about school safety and security.
Keith Hoyt’s cows used to be the neighbourhood celebrities.
It is a bluebird morning at Mont Tremblant ski resort, with the white peaks reaching into a clear sky.
The man responsible for the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash could be deported to India within weeks, leaving behind his wife and two children, who are pleading with Canada to let him stay.
Delays and closures, including the cancellation of several families of schools, are in effect across parts of P.E.I. Wednesday morning after an overnight snowfall on the Island.