Toronto police union calls on Olivia Chow to offer public support after rash of violence against officers

Toronto Police Association called Chow’s lack of public acknowledgment of the incidents “deafening.”
Thestar.com
Aug. 1, 2023
Joshua Chong

Toronto’s police union has criticized Mayor Olivia Chow for her lack of public support after a rash of recent violence against law enforcement officials.

The Toronto Police Association (TPA), which represents nearly 8,000 uniform and civilian members of the Toronto Police Service, issued a statement calling on the newly elected mayor to publicly acknowledge the incidents.

“In the last five days, we have had a police officer struck and injured by a stolen car, officers shot at, and a police dog killed in the line of duty. Will Mayor Chow offer any words of condolence or support for our members?” the TPA said in a tweet issued Thursday.

In a statement to the Star Monday, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said Chow reached out to police leadership after learning of each incident to extend her wishes for a quick recovery to the injured officer and extend her condolences for the police dog’s death.

“Going forward, her messages to officers will also be made public,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the Star. “The mayor will be meeting with the TPA to hear more, and has expressed her desire to work together. Mayor Chow is committed to building a city where all workers feel safe on the job.”

Toronto police dog killed and officer injured in recent incidents
The first incident cited in the TPA’s statement occurred on July 22, when a teenage driver in a stolen vehicle allegedly struck and injured a police officer on a bike in Parkdale. According to police, officers were approaching the car on their bikes when the driver “accelerated towards them.” Video of the incident appears to show the driver surge forward into another lane, striking the officer and sending them onto the hood of another vehicle.

Police said the vehicle’s two occupants, a 15-year-old boy and 17-year-old girl, were arrested and charged. The injured officer was reportedly taken to hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Three days later, a K9 police dog was killed in the line of duty while searching for a murder suspect in Etobicoke. Toronto police said the two-year-old German shepherd, named Bingo, was shot after “an interaction” broke out between police and the suspect.

The province’s Special Investigations Unit, which is investigating the incident, said an officer shot the suspect, who was then taken to hospital with a serious injury. The 44-year-old man faces a charge of second-degree murder in connection to the shooting of a 24-year-old Toronto man.

Speaking with Newstalk1010 on Friday, TPA President Jon Reid characterized Chow’s silence in the wake of the incidents as “deafening” and added that it’s not going unnoticed.

“I think it’s really important for her, as a new mayor and the leader of our city, to come out and support the people that work in her city, keeping it safe,” he said in the interview.

Chow has had a turbulent relationship with the TPA in the past. In 2000, as a city councillor, Chow was forced to resign her seat on the Toronto Police Services Board after she attended and publicly criticized the police’s handling of an anti-poverty rally at Queen’s Park that turned violent.

The day of the riot, the TPA issued a news release demanding Chow resign, claiming she “interfered with police activity and overstepped her authority as a member of the police services board.”

Chow resigned several days later, saying at the time that she didn’t want her presence to harm the board’s work.

Since her mayoral byelection victory, Chow has spoken publicly about violence in the city. As mayor-elect, she expressed her condolences to the loved ones of Karolina Huebner-Makurat, who was killed on July 7 by a stray bullet during a daytime shooting in Leslieville.

After the deadly incident, she added that she was “very grateful” for the police’s work on the case.

“The challenge before me when I become mayor,” she said at the time, “is to find ways to end gun violence and all types of violence in our city so that tragedies like this one do not happen. This is a top priority for me.”