In response to police corruption arrests, Doug Ford says “there’s always a few bad apples”
Eight officers are alleged to have leaked personal information to organized crime contacts, leading to shootings and other violent incidents
At a news conference yesterday, Toronto police announced that eight of the city’s officers (seven of whom are active and one who is retired) were recently arrested on organized crime and corruption charges.
Over seven months, an investigation called Project South found that the accused officers unlawfully accessed personal information and shared it with organized crime contacts, who carried out shootings and other violent crimes, including an attack at the home of a corrections management staff member.
Police added that one of the alleged organized crime contacts has connections to the tow truck industry.
Related: The violent life of a tow truck driver—how an unremarkable profession turned Toronto into a war zone
The news came just days after Mayor Olivia Chow’s 2026 budget launch confirmed a $93.8-million increase for Toronto police, bringing the total police budget to $1.43 billion. Part of that will go toward salary raises for officers. Chow said yesterday that any of the officers found guilty “will be punished” and “deserve to be thrown in jail.”
Separately, reporters also asked Premier Doug Ford for comments on the matter. “It’s very, very disturbing,” he said, per a report from The Trillium. Ford added that the police investigation is ongoing, and that it’s up to the courts to decide the outcome.
“I don’t want to paint (with) a broad brush or tarnish the police—we have phenomenal police officers,” he said. “When they get sworn in and they get their badge, they have a duty, and it’s very disappointing to hear what’s been going on, but I don’t want the public to lose trust in our great police, because they are incredible. There’s always, as you say, in any organization, there’s always a few bad apples.”
An independent review has been requested by the Toronto Police Service Board and Toronto Police Service chief Myron Demkiw.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
