Toronto Police Services headquarters in Toronto in August, 2019. TPS Chief Myron Demkiw insists that recent allegations against police officers are anomalies.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
The media was first to tell the people of Toronto that three of its police officers had been arrested in Spain. Initially the reason for the arrests was unclear, but soon the details began trickling out: while vacationing in Barcelona last week, one of these men allegedly sexually assaulted a sex worker in a taxi while another physically assaulted her after she refused to participate in a threesome, according to Spanish media. The woman was allegedly punched in the face, which caused a cut that required stitches, and was sexually assaulted before she was rescued by plain-clothed officers in the area; the third suspect is accused of attacking an officer. One of the suspects fled the scene, but was found in Palma de Mallorca roughly 48 hours later.
The Toronto Police Service (TPS) did not proactively disclose that three of its officers, tasked with upholding the law in Canada, are accused of so violently breaking it – and one, of fleeing from it – in another country. When first presented with the allegations by CTV News, the TPS refused to disclose any details about the arrests, and would not provide the names of the officers who have now returned to Canada and are currently receiving their full salaries on suspension. Those officers have since been identified by a source as Rich Rand, Evan Glennie and Caglar Yigit.
TPS Chief Myron Demkiw insists that these allegations – these officers – are anomalies. He said the same thing when seven of Toronto’s finest were arrested in the Project South corruption probe that involved allegations of bribery, drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder. He said that a recent Ontario Provincial Police investigation “exonerated” three TPS officers who were accused by a judge of colluding and lying in court to try to ensure the conviction of Umar Zameer in the death of Constable Jeffrey Northrup, though the OPP never contacted Mr. Zameer, and drew a number of credulous conclusions. Mr. Demkiw claimed his force is not seeing evidence of “systemic issues” in response to claims about a culture of antisemitism made by retired homicide inspector Hank Idsinga in his recently published memoir.
Three Toronto police officers arrested in Spain over alleged assault
This is just about a few bad apples, according to the chief. The three officers arrested in Spain, and the seven arrested in Canada, plus Farhan Ali, arrested and charged with assault, sexual, assault and mischief, and Rifat Hassan, charged with unlawful access of a computer for accessing police databases, and Abbas Popal, also charged with unlawful access of a computer – all cases that were disclosed just within the last couple of months – these individuals “do not reflect that vast majority of members” of the Toronto police, Mr. Demkiw has said.
The chief’s bad apples theory falls apart, however, when in many of these instances, the apples were rotting in plain view – or in collaboration – with each other. Project South uncovered a network of alleged corruption within the TPS. Mr. Idsinga’s book describes a senior officer calling a Jewish person a “fucking Jew” casually in front of others. Two officers in that taxi in Spain allegedly watched an assault take place. And even after reading the OPP’s report, anyone who followed the testimony in the Zameer case could reasonably still be of the belief that police officers colluded to try to secure a conviction.
Those cases are not instances of one officer potentially doing something wrong; they are situations where officers allegedly did wrong together, apparently feeling insulated by the knowledge that they have each other’s backs. That is textbook systemic dysfunction: a deep rot that infects new recruits (such as Mr. Hassan, referenced above for unlawful use of a computer, who was just 10 months into the job) and poisons the public’s perception of the entire force.
Seven Toronto police officers facing charges in Project South probe suspended without pay
Mr. Demkiw has made a new habit of saying that the TPS needs to earn back the public’s trust whenever he finds himself in front of a microphone. That’s nice. But when the problem is so obviously a systemic one, individual suspensions and even arrests won’t restore faith in the integrity of the Toronto police (and especially not when the news first comes from the media, not from the TPS itself).
Why should the public accept the chief’s claim that the dozen-plus officers recently arrested represent aberrations, and not symptoms of a chronic disease? What is the plan to earn back the public’s trust, beyond saying that the force needs to earn back the public’s trust? And if the chief won’t admit to structural problems within the force, why should the public hold out any hope for comprehensive solutions?