The Law Union of Ontario is calling for an outside police service to investigate whether corruption within Toronto police extends beyond the officers already implicated in Project South, questioning whether Chief Myron Demkiw’s new internal measures go far enough.

According to reporting by CityNews’ Shauna Hunt and Michael Talbot, lawyer and police critic Jack Gemmel said the allegations require a deeper, independent investigation rather than reliance on internal inspections and a broader provincial review.

Project South resulted in the arrests of seven serving Toronto police officers and one retired officer. The allegations include bribery, conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking, tied to suspected misuse of police databases. Officers allegedly accessed classified information that was passed to criminals who carried out shootings and other violent offences.

In response, Toronto Police Service has established two teams dedicated to anti-corruption, enforcement, accountability and compliance. One is responsible for unannounced inspections of police divisions and units.

“That means we now have more people conducting internal inspections and more people focused on identifying and investigating possible corruption,” Demkiw said at a recent meeting outlining the measures.

Police say more than 20 internal inspections have been conducted. However, the report does not specify whether those inspections uncovered problems or whether officers or supervisors faced consequences.

Gemmel questioned why Toronto police and its Professional Standards Bureau had not uncovered the alleged misconduct before York Regional Police encountered it during an unrelated investigation.

“So, the question is how far does it go into the police force?” he said.

Demkiw also highlighted ongoing province-wide inspections of Ontario police forces, saying Toronto police had provided documents and disclosure. The inspector general of policing will review the resulting reports for findings, recommendations or directions.

Gemmel argued that process is too broad to establish whether additional Toronto officers are compromised or implicated.

The police report also acknowledges a need to strengthen monitoring of access to sensitive information. Some safeguards remain in development, and much of the chief’s anti-corruption work is still underway.

Sources