Toronto police chief taking memoir’s allegations of antisemitism in highest ranks of force ‘very seriously’

Former Toronto police homicide detective Hank Idsinga has released a memoir containing accusations of antisemitism in the highest ranks of the force. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk /Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Post

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Toronto’s police chief, Myron Demkiw, says the force is taking antisemitism allegations made by a former homicide detective “very, very seriously.”

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In ‘The High Road: Confessions Of A Homicide Cop,’ Hank Idsinga, makes the claim of having to face “racism and dysfunction” within the ranks, reports CityNews. He sets out instances of alleged antisemitism that left him “feeling physically ill.” 

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Chief Demkiw was questioned about Idsinga’s allegations during a police press conference on Thursday morning. 

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Prefacing his comments by acknowledging a “dramatic rise of antisemitism” in Toronto and the “fear and concern” around it, he went on to say that “any allegation of a Toronto police officer being involved in any kind of racist behaviour, we take very, very seriously.” 

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He said TPS has approached Idsinga to participate in an investigation, though the invitation “has been declined at this point, but we are examining, certainly, the allegations very carefully.”  

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Demkiw mentioned that he was meeting later Thursday “with (TPS) members and our internal Jewish support network executive. We are committed to making sure we are responsive to everything we find.” 

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He reiterated that the TPS intends to investigate the allegations “thoroughly and completely.”  

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Idsinga emphasizes in his book that “members of the Toronto Police Service are overwhelmingly good, decent people,” but he contends the police force is not immune to “personal biases that exist in society,” including antisemitism, anti-Black racism, misogyny and homophobia. 

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He levels an accusation of “vile racism in the uppermost ranks of the police service.”  

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In one instance, Idsinga recounted a video that was shared internally about a divisional officer. 

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“I happened to walk up when (an unnamed) senior officer was watching it,” he recalled. “The senior officer hit pause, looked at me, and said, “The only reason he gets away with this is because he’s a f*****g Jew.” 

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When members of his office had to do a presentation to a lawyer at police headquarters, Idsinga wrote that the same senior officer remarked, “I can’t believe we have to pander to this f*****g Jew.” 

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“They had no idea about my heritage,” he writes. Idsinga’s grandfather was murdered in the Holocaust.

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Idsinga writes that he never considered filing a formal complaint with TPS “because the very people and the very institution that I would be complaining to about this, are the ones I would have to rely on to conduct that investigation, and I have no faith in them whatsoever to conduct that investigation.” 

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