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The Toronto Police Service Board has asked the province’s policing oversight body to look into recent allegations of antisemitism and other cultural issues within the city’s police force.
The board asked Ontario’s Inspectorate of Policing to conduct their inspections promptly, publicly report findings when possible, and to recommend corrective actions where necessary, according to a Friday news release.
The request comes weeks after Hank Idsinga, a retired Toronto Police Service (TPS) homicide inspector, voiced the allegations to CBC News and other news outlets around the release of his book, The High Road, in April.
Idsinga, whose grandfather was a Holocaust victim, told CBC News there’s a culture of antisemitism, racism and corruption among the service’s high-ranking officials.
“There’s a real problem with the culture of the police service from top to bottom,” he said in the interview.
Shelley Carroll, chair of the TPS board, said members of Toronto’s Jewish community deserve to have their concerns addressed.
“Residents should never have to question whether they’ll be treated fairly because of who they are or what community they belong to,” Carroll said in a news release, adding the TPS board heard feedback from the community before approaching the inspectorate.
“People need confidence that policing in Toronto is professional, impartial and free from bias,” she said.
Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw said the service is committed to member wellness and respect in the workplace.
“The Toronto Police Service takes any allegation of antisemitism and racism extremely seriously,” he said in a statement to CBC Toronto, adding Toronto police will support the oversight body during their inspection.
Demkiw said he’s also asked the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency to review the allegations and determine if more inspection is necessary.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow supports the board’s request, the mayor’s spokesperson Braman Thillainathan said in a statement. He said she looks forward to the outcome of the inspectorate’s review.
In the interview with CBC News in April, Idsinga described a series of antisemitic encounters involving a senior officer whom he has not named. Idsinga said the incidents include a time the officer referring to a kosher barbecue as a “Jew-cue” and two instances wherein the officer called a Jewish person a “f–king Jew.”
At an unrelated news conference following the initial allegations, Deputy Chief Robert Johnson said the service wants to talk to Idsinga so the service could investigate the claims.