Olivia Chow says police officers found guilty of crime “deserve to be thrown in jail”
The mayor’s comments follow news that a group of Toronto police officers were arrested on organized crime and corruption charges
Mayor Olivia Chow has commented on news that eight police officers—seven of whom were active and one who was retired—have been arrested as part of Project South, an organized crime and corruption investigation carried out over seven months by the Toronto Police Service.
At a press conference this morning, York Regional Police chief Jim MacSween called it “a deeply disappointing and sad day for policing” amid reporters’ questions about why the public should trust police, given these officers’ alleged involvement in crime.
At an unrelated event, Chow said any of the officers found guilty “will be punished” and “deserve to be thrown in jail,” according to CBC.
“We have to get to the bottom of how this could happen,” she said.
Chow said she is supportive of the request for an independent review put forward by the Toronto Police Service Board and Toronto Police Service chief Myron Demkiw.
When this year’s city budget launched earlier this week, Toronto’s police budget officially reached $1.43 billion, inclusive of a $93.8-million increase, which is meant to cover a multi-year hiring plan and salary increases for officers.
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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.
