Toronto/CMEDIA: Bail has reportedly been denied to a Toronto police officer who allegedly leaked information about an Ontario corrections officer to a “key figure” of Toronto’s criminal network for the purpose of murdering him.
Following his bail hearing on Friday, Const. Timothy Barnhardt was remanded into custody.
Barnhardt, 56, is facing a total of 17 charges in connection with the investigation, dubbed Project South.
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The results of the seven-month-long investigation by York Regional Police was announced on Thursday that linked 27 suspects—including five constables, two sergeants and one retired officer—to corruption and organized crime.
Following the incident at a corrections officer’s home in York Region, the investigation began in June.
Barnhardt was called the “genesis of the investigation,” by the police as his alleged actions led investigators to uncover a “complex” network of corruption involving officers who were accused of performing unlawful searches of personal information for members of the criminal network, which led to incidents of extortion, robberies, and shootings.
3 Peel police officers suspended
Following bombshell allegations, three of its members had been suspended on Friday, Peel Regional Police said.
In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for Peel police said none of its officers have been charged criminally, unlike the several Toronto cops who were previously identified as suspects.
“To protect the integrity of their investigation, we will not be providing additional comments,” Const. Tyler Bell-Morena said in an email.
Toronto’s police chief addresses his responsibility in corrupt cop bust
Meanwhile, defending his handling of the allegations, Toronto’s police chief seeks to “restore trust and confidence” in the force.
“My responsibility is the operations of the Toronto Police Service, including the good order and discipline of this organization,” Demkiw told Newstalk 1010’s John Moore on Friday when asked about what level of responsibility he holds for the officers’ alleged conduct.
“When I was made aware of this, we did commit, as I said, every resource necessary to York Regional Police. I think it’s important to recognize we also supported the conflict of interest provision of the Community Safety and Policing Act, which requires, in circumstances like this, another agency to investigate us. And I took a very firm position that we will maintain the integrity of the investigation and adhere to the conflict of interest provisions of the Act. And that’s what we did.”
Demkiw said he’s gone from “disappointed to angry and any number of other feelings you might imagine” in learning about the allegations from the onset, but said Thursday that neither the mayor nor the Police Services Board has called for his resignation, despite some calls from the public to do so.
As the investigation continues, Demkiw said he has referred the matter to the province’s policing inspector general to conduct an independent investigation of the alleged conduct, which he said the force will fully cooperate with.
Toronto Association Pres ‘disturbed’ by the allegations
The union condemned the officers’ alleged actions in a statement published Thursday by the Toronto Police Association (TPA), and suggested that union-provided legal support for them is conditional.
“To be very clear, legal support for members charged in criminal cases is not guaranteed by the TPA and is determined on a case-by-case basis,” the association, which represents more than 8,000 members, said in a tweet.
TPA President Clayton Campbell appeared alongside Demkiw during Friday’s interview and said he and his members were “disturbed” by the allegations.
“I’ve said it before: There’s nothing our members hate more than a corrupt cop,” he said.
It was explained by Campbell that a decision on providing legal defence to the defendants would be made by the union’s standalone committee and determine whether they were in the “lawful good faith performance” of their duties when the alleged incidents occurred.
“We will always defend our members. We protect those that protect others, but (only) when they’re doing so in good faith, in an honest way, and these situations don’t fall in that category, in my opinion,” he said.
