Myron Demkiw sworn in as Toronto’s new police chief, vowing to ‘repair, earn and maintain’ public trust

The 32-year police veteran takes over a force with a billion-dollar budget, in a city that has seen sustained levels of violent crime.

Thestar.coom
Dec. 20, 2022
Wendy Gillis

Toronto’s new police chief will issue an “unreserved” formal apology for his role in a notorious 2000 bathhouse raid that has some in the city’s LGBTQ community questioning his appointment -- but said he wants time to hear from those harmed by his actions first.

“I am absolutely prepared to do an unreserved apology, but now the time is for me to listen and understand what that apology should be,” Chief Myron Demkiw told reporters inside the Toronto police media gallery Monday.

“I need to be informed through my engagement and discussions with the communities that have been impacted,” he said.

Demkiw, 56, was sworn in as Toronto’s 25th police chief at a ceremony at Toronto police headquarters Monday, vowing that the key priority in this three-year term will be building back public trust in policing.

Hours later, under questioning at his first press conference, Demkiw acknowledged his own participation in a bathhouse raid has contributed to a tattered trust between police and some in the LGBTQ community.

In 2000, Demkiw was one of five male police officers who entered the Pussy Palace event, during a sex-positive event for queer women and trans people, as part of a raid by the now-disbanded vice squad. An Ontario court judge later concluded the raid amounted to an unreasonable strip search that left attendees feeling “violated, intimidated and shocked.” A human rights complaint forced police to recruit gay officers and pay $350,000 to the complainants.

In September, after the Toronto police board named Demkiw as the next chief, a group of women affected by the raid questioned in an open letter why they’d chosen “an officer who has been directly involved in a breach of civil liberties.”

Demkiw said Monday that the raid was one of a series of negative events impacting the LGBTQ community where trust and confidence in policing have been shaken.

“I recognize and acknowledge that there continues to be trauma and concern and an expression of anxiety about my appointment. I definitely understand that,” he said.

A 32-year veteran who was most recently a deputy chief, Demkiw was sworn in at a ceremony inside Toronto police headquarters, attended by colleagues and dignitaries including Ontario Premier Doug Ford and past Toronto police chiefs Bill Blair and Julian Fantino.

His appointment came after an unprecedented two-year search by the board for the next police chief that was set off with the early departure of former chief Mark Saunders. In his stead, James Ramer took the reins of Canada’s largest municipal police force in 2020, an interim appointment that lasted more than two years.

With Demkiw sworn in, Monday marked Ramer’s retirement from Toronto police. In an emotional speech, Ramer thanked colleagues and relatives while reinforcing the importance of “sustained police funding.”

“I have seen firsthand how flat budgets lead to reduced staffing numbers and ultimately a degradation of service to the community,” said Ramer, who was later accompanied out of police headquarters by pipers.

While Ramer was in the chief’s chair, the Toronto police budget was maintained at $1.076 billion in 2021, but last year saw a $25-million dollar bump, to a total of $1.1 billion -- even after widespread calls to reduce police spending starting in 2020, amid a continentwide reckoning over the murder of George Floyd by ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Mayor John Tory, a past member of the Toronto police board, said the force will be making a request for a budget increase in 2023. Asked why Toronto police will be asking for more money, Demkiw said the budget was still a “work in progress.”

Demkiw takes leadership while the city battles sustained levels of violent crime, including a dramatic rise in youth carjackings and pharmacy robberies. He said Monday that he’d take a “public health approach” to address the needs of people victimized by gun violence and other social factors that lead to police being called.

“We have long, long learned that enforcement is not the only option, and often not the right option. And in cases where drug addiction, homelessness and mental health are factors, there are other suites of care that need to be brought to bear,” Demkiw told reporters.

He also inherits a force with pressing trust issues inside and outside the force.

Earlier this year, Toronto police released a landmark report on race-based data that showed systemic discrimination in the force’s policing, including the statistic that in 2020, Black Torontonians were five times more likely to have force used against them than white ones.

The same week, they released the results of an external workplace culture review that found sexual harassment and discrimination regularly occur, based on feedback from hundreds of employees whose complaints ranged from unwanted sexual advances to the fact that the organization is “predominantly” led by white men.

“I want to be explicitly clear that my priority is improving trust in and within” the Toronto police, Demkiw said.