Councillor Shelley Carroll, who is chair of the Toronto Police Service Board, says the city’s police chief should demonstrate visible leadership and a clear commitment to strengthening the culture and standards of the force.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
The chair of Toronto’s police board says sexual-assault allegations against three off-duty officers in Spain are troubling and must be dealt with swiftly to maintain the public’s trust.
The Toronto Police officers were arrested in Barcelona last week, after an alleged attack against a sex worker.
They are now back in Canada and have been suspended with pay, said Toronto Police Service spokesperson Stephanie Sayer. The allegations have not been tested in court.
Councillor Shelley Carroll, who is chair of the Toronto Police Service Board, said in an e-mailed statement that the arrests are “serious and troubling.”
“The people of Toronto expect police officers to uphold the highest standards of conduct, both on and off duty,” she wrote.
Ms. Carroll said that the city’s police chief should demonstrate visible leadership and a clear commitment to strengthening the culture and standards of the force.
“Public confidence must be continually reinforced,” she said.
The incident, which made headlines in Spain as well as in Canada, happened at a time when Toronto’s police force is under pressure to implement reforms in the wake of the Project South corruption investigation.
Through that probe, seven police officers and a retired officer were charged alongside nearly 20 civilians in February on an array of allegations, including bribery, drug trafficking and a plot to murder a corrections officer.
Thirty federal cases affected after Toronto police officers charged in Project South probe
Police Chief Myron Demkiw said in a radio interview on Wednesday morning that the force was making efforts to contact Spanish police to get the details TPS needs. The service supports the efforts of Barcelona police within their jurisdiction and justice system, Chief Demkiw added.
“We do everything we need to do to hold our members accountable based on these allegations,” he told Toronto-based Newstalk 1010.
The Globe and Mail reported on Tuesday that according to a source with knowledge of the arrests, the officers are Rich Rand, Evan Glennie and Caglar Yigit. The Globe is not identifying the source because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
TPS spokesperson Ms. Sayer said the officers charged in Spain were off duty and travelling on their own personal time. She said the service is reviewing whether they can be suspended without pay.
The provincial government made legislative changes in 2024 that allowed police forces to suspend officers without pay when they are convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment, are in custody or are charged with a serious offence under a law in Canada.
Watchdog urges more guardrails on police-held data in wake of Project South
Ms. Sayer said TPS is limited in what it can say since the case is before the courts in Spain and is the subject of continuing internal processes in Canada, but she added that the law requires certain conditions are met before an officer can be suspended without pay.
John Sewell, a former Toronto mayor who now is now part of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition, said the police force should go further than they have.
“We should be suspending these officers without pay,” he said in an interview.
Mr. Sewell criticized Chief Demkiw’s previous approach to accountability and said he hopes the force does a better job with the officers charged in Spain.
The coalition has been calling for additional accountability measures, including independent oversight of discipline procedures and ensuring that discipline decisions are published.
The group is also pressing for better training for officers and regular community consultation on issues of racism, sexism and homophobia.