Ontario’s Inspector-General of Policing says he is launching a provincewide inspection of police forces after the arrests last week of seven Toronto officers in a sweeping probe of corruption and links to organized crime.

Ryan Teschner told reporters on Monday at Queen’s Park that he would appoint an external, independent inspector to examine the ability of all of Ontario’s police forces, including at the provincial level, to combat internal corruption.

The probe will examine “the ability of Ontario’s police services and boards to prevent, detect, respond to and fortify their organizations against corruption and ensure integrity,” he said.

Several Toronto police officers charged in organized crime and corruption probe

Mr. Teschner said the provincewide scope was needed because Project South, the criminal probe that resulted in the arrest of officers last week, has already uncovered links outside the Toronto Police. (In neighbouring Peel Region, three officers have been suspended in connection with the investigation.)

Police officers engaging in crimes may not limit themselves to single force, Mr. Teschner said, adding that a broad inspection across different services was needed to look at “system-wide” improvements and restore public trust.

The inspection will examine the way officers are supervised, the screening that takes place at the recruitment stage and beyond, the safeguards around access to police databases and evidence is handled. The probe will also look at substance abuse by officers and the supports available to them.

Last week, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw and the chairwoman of the city’s police services board, Shelley Carroll, jointly wrote the Inspector-General to request an investigation along these lines in the wake of the arrests.

Mr. Teschner said he could use his powers to issue binding directives to police forces as a result of the probe.

It’s the first major move by Mr. Teschner. His role and arm’s-length agency he leads are the result of long-delayed police reforms in Ontario that only took effect in 2024.

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Jeff Gray has covered Queen’s Park for The Globe and Mail since 2019. He has broken stories about the Ford government's controversial plans for its Ontario Place site on Toronto's waterfront and the province's increased use of special zoning orders to approve land developers' projects.

He has also reported extensively about the government's aborted move to allow housing on the protected Greenbelt area. And he compiled data to show that the province, acting on Premier Doug Ford's vow to appoint \"like-minded\" judges who would be tough on crime, had dramatically increased the number of former prosecutors elevated to the bench.

Jeff started at The Globe in 1998 as a summer intern. In 2000, he was named the paper's first online reporter/editor for its then-new breaking-news website. In 2002, he spent a year on leave in London working for the BBC and reporting for The Globe before returning to immerse himself in municipal politics in Toronto, reporting and writing a column from City Hall. He has also worked in the Report on Business, where he focused on white-collar crime as the section's law reporter.

He lives in Toronto, where he coaches his kids in house league hockey, plays guitar (quite badly) and (mostly) rides his bike to work.

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