Toronto woman with restraining order says police were 'too busy' to help when she tried to report a breach

For Seojin Kim, going to the courts to get a restraining order felt like the only option after she broke up with her former partner. 

Despite asking him to stop contacting her and blocking him, she says the calls, emails and texts were relentless — 450 missed calls, 11 voicemails and 500 emails in roughly six weeks. When she blocked his numbers, she says he'd call from a different line, and when she blocked his email, he created alternate addresses. 

She says he loitered outside her home and work waiting for her, and even showed up at her workplace once, "pretending to be a customer."

"I was feeling unsafe and kind of scared about every time I had to go outside," Kim told CBC Toronto.

But even after an Ontario Superior Court Justice granted the 28-year-old a protective order on Feb. 21, 2025 that barred her ex from contacting her or being within 500 metres of her home or work, she says it was a struggle to get Toronto police to enforce it.

Her ex allegedly breached the order, reaching out to a friend of hers to make contact, then once again emailing her and sending her multiple e-transfers so that he could attach a message. CBC Toronto has reviewed dozens of these emails and messages.

When she first brought the protective order and extensive evidence of the breaches to Toronto police's 51 Division on April 12, she said no officer would even look at it — with one telling her, "we are too busy right now."

While her ex was eventually arrested, Kim says she doesn't understand why it took repeated attempts to enforce her restraining order.

"It doesn't make sense, they have to protect me; it's their duty. That's why we got a restraining order," said Kim. "If they don't do anything, then what's the point of a restraining order?"

Kim, a Korean immigrant who moved to Toronto in 2023, says she felt dismissed after the initial visit.

"They told me I had two options: sit and wait for several hours – with no guarantee I'd actually get to speak – or call the non-emergency line," Kim said.

When she did call the non-emergency line the next day, she says she was told to go to the station on her day off and wait. She then made a second visit to 51 Division on April 21 — her next day off —  bringing with her a native English speaker, at which point she says an investigator agreed to file a report.

Toronto police confirmed Kim's ex was arrested the next day, on April 22, and charged with a harassment offence and for disobeying a lawful court order.

Some advocates say it's not the first time they've heard of a breach like this not taken seriously by law enforcement.