MANDEL: Finally accused dirty cops can be suspended without pay
· Toronto Sun
At the very least, we don’t have to pay these allegedly crooked Toronto cops to stay home while awaiting trial on their shocking corruption and drug trafficking charges.
In his press conference Thursday, the shaken Toronto Police Chief suggested as much.
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“We are examining the legal authorities I have in regards to suspension without pay,” Chief Myron Demkiw said. “Presently, at least four of the seven I will be seeking suspension without pay.”
By the end of the day, his spokesperson confirmed the Chief had provided notice to four officers that their pay will be cut off while suspended – beginning 60 days from receipt of the notice – meaning Const. Timothy Barnhardt, Const. Saurabjit Bedi, Sgt. Robert Black and Sgt. Carl Grellette are all to be suspended without pay.
The move is so obvious, and yet, groundbreaking: Until 2024, Ontario was the only province in Canada where suspended officers could keep collecting their paycheques while facing criminal charges – and sometimes even after their convictions – costing the rest of us millions of dollars.
While the dirty cops laughed all the way to the bank.
That shouldn’t happen here – especially not in what could be the largest case of alleged police corruption in Toronto history. The seven active Toronto officers and one retiree face a slew of disturbing charges including trafficking cocaine, accepting bribes and obstructing justice.
The York Regional Police investigation, dubbed Project South, alleges officers also mined confidential information from police computers and leaked it to criminals – including to hit men planning to kill a corrections officer who lived in York Region.
Yes, these officers are innocent until proven guilty, but anyone else accused of trafficking coke or working with organized crime would likely be fired outright, not paid to stay home as cops would have been before the law changed at last.
Following years of outrage and lobbying by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, the new law passed in 2024 allows chiefs to finally suspend without pay if an officer is in custody or on bail with conditions that interfere with their ability to do their job, or if the officer is charged with a serious off-duty offence that could also lead to their firing.
A 2024 CBC News investigation discovered police suspensions across Ontario had cost taxpayers approximately $134 million over the previous 11 years – with 87% of the paid suspensions involving a criminal charge.
One of the most notorious was former Toronto Police Const. Ioan-Florin (John) Floria, who collected more than $1 million while suspended with pay after his 2007 arrest on allegations he assisted his friends in a multimillion-dollar Eastern European drug cartel.
In 2012, a jury acquitted him on all six criminal charges, but the former traffic cop was convicted under the Police Services Act in 2017 of insubordination, breach of confidence and two counts of discreditable conduct. Now-retired Supt. Debra Preston ordered his “immediate” dismissal in 2018.
Then he appealed – and kept drawing his generous salary.
Instead of being paid to serve and protect, Ontarians were furious that they were funding bad cops’ leisure time. One ex-officer even mocked the insanity of the system: Finally fired after collecting $400,000 in salary and benefits during his three-year suspension, former Waterloo Regional Police constable Craig Markham thanked the police service for its “nice gift” that let him sit at home, play golf, travel and train to become a firefighter while getting paid “a first class pay check (sic).”
Thankfully, that won’t happen here – at least for four of these accused.
If they’re exonerated down the road, let the suspended cops receive back pay with interest. But if convicted, at least police mafioso haven’t been able to continue to profit from their crimes.