Toronto police board requests inspection into antisemitism allegations within police service

The Toronto Police Service Board has made a request to Ontario’s Inspectorate of Policing to conduct an expedited inspection of recent antisemitism allegations levelled at the Toronto Police Service.

Late last month, former homicide detective Hank Idsinga made allegations of antisemitism in the Toronto Police Service in the pages of his recently released memoir.

In a public statement released Friday, board chair Shelley Carroll said the board’s request follows consultations with Jewish community stakeholders and members of the board’s Jewish Community Advisory Table.

“The Board has heard clearly from members of Toronto’s Jewish community that these concerns need to be examined independently and credibly,” said Carroll in the statement. “Residents should never have to question whether they’ll be treated fairly because of who they are or what community they belong to.”

Confidence that policing in Toronto “is professional, impartial, and free from bias” is a public necessity, she said.

The board’s request to the Inspectorate includes several recommendations that arose from community stakeholder consultations: appointing an external lead inspector, examining broader TPS culture and accountability, and confidentiality protection for participants.

The board recommends that corrective action be taken if the inspection identifies it is warranted.

Carroll’s statement noted that the board is making the request to the Inspectorate because it is the province’s independent policing oversight body and has the statutory authority to conduct inspections and issue binding directions.

“The Inspectorate exists specifically to examine systemic policing concerns through an independent process grounded in expertise, accountability, and public confidence,” Carroll said. “That makes it the appropriate mechanism for this work.”

As previously reported by National Post, Idsinga made the antisemitism claims in his memoir, The High Road: Confessions Of A Homicide Cop. He wrote that he had to cope with “racism and dysfunction” within the ranks and described instances of alleged antisemitism that left him “feeling physically ill.”

While he emphasized that members of the TPS “are overwhelmingly good, decent people,” he contended the police force is subject to “personal biases that exist in society,” including antisemitism, anti-Black racism, misogyny and homophobia. He levelled an accusation of “vile racism in the uppermost ranks of the police service.”

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