Allegedly stolen police uniforms: can the cops trust their dry cleaner?

This is totally reassuring: 680 News reported last night that more than a dozen police uniforms were stolen from the cleaners. That report led to headlines no police force wants to see, with phrases like “police cannot confirm.” Just days before the city goes into G20 lockdown, there are obvious concerns about what a handful of people with legit police uniforms could do if they wanted to make mischief. There’s only one problem with those concerns: there might not be any missing uniforms at all.

Toronto Police told Canwest:

“680 News have put out a completely inaccurate report,” police duty Staff Sgt. Joel Kulmatycki told Canwest News Service. “There are no police uniforms stolen. And I’m not playing games with you, either. This isn’t like a cat-and-mouse thing where we’re trying to hide anything (from the media), but we’re not trying to hide anything.”

That seems pretty definitive, except for the “we’re not trying to hide anything” (would you cop to it if you were?). It’s not like it would be the first time the city’s papers and broadcasters spent a day chasing a false rumour. Remember the poll that wasn’t? Or the legitimately purchased fertilizer?

• Toronto police can’t confirm report that uniforms were stolen from cleaners [Globe and Mail]
• Toronto police say reports of stolen uniforms ‘inaccurate’ [Calgary Herald]
• Police deny reports of stolen uniforms [National Post]