Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw, shown on March 12, says the force is examining the allegations ‘very carefully.’Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw says the force is investigating allegations of antisemitism and racism among senior officers in a book by the former head of homicide.
Chief Demkiw said they approached Hank Idsinga to participate in an investigation, but he declined.
“But I will tell you that we are examining the allegations very carefully,” said Chief Demkiw at an unrelated press conference Thursday. “We investigate thoroughly and completely.”
Mr. Idsinga recently published The High Road: Confessions of a Homicide Cop, a memoir outlining his 34-year career in the force.
The Toronto Police Service last month announced a new counterterrorism unit as part of its response to violence linked to the Middle East conflict.
Toronto has been seeing an increase in alleged hate crimes, such as shootings targeting Jewish schools, synagogues and businesses.
“For all of the years of reporting that I can recall as it relates to hate crime, the Jewish community has been the most vulnerable to hate and the rise of antisemitism is incredibly concerning,” said Chief Demkiw.
In an interview with The Globe on Thursday, Mr. Idsinga said the force’s Professional Standards unit sent him an e-mail requesting an internal investigation on April 22, which he declined.
On April 23, he said two Toronto Police Service detectives showed up at his door to hand-deliver a paper copy of the same e-mail – two days after interviews about his book were released.
“I’m not interested in participating in any interview that will lead to an investigation by the Toronto Police Service that will go absolutely nowhere,” said Mr. Idsinga. “I don’t have faith in them to conduct an investigation like that.”
“I’ll let the book speak for itself. What I’ve got to say is in the book,” said Mr. Idsinga.
In the book and in media interviews, he has detailed alleged incidents of antisemitism he says he experienced in the force, but has so far declined to name names.
Mr. Idsinga said some of the people in the TPS’s Jewish Internal Support Network thanked him for speaking out because they usually feel that they can’t.
As for other officers, they wouldn’t make a formal complaint while working because it’s “career suicide” and they don’t trust in the system that navigates complaints, he said.
Mr. Idsinga said he feels for the Jewish officers who are still working in the organization.
“I think it’s gonna take more than a meaningless internal investigation to say ‘you know what? We’ve got a problem with antisemitism in the police service.’ We’ve been saying things like this for 30 years, and yet nothing is being done,” said Mr. Idsinga.
According to the Toronto Police Service Equity & Inclusion Survey from 2022, Jewish people make up one per cent of the force.
Chief Demkiw said he would meet Thursday with the Jewish Internal Support Network executive and is committed to making sure they are “responsive to everything” they find and will be investigating the allegations “thoroughly and completely.”