WARMINGTON: ‘Hank Effect’ sees Toronto Police scrubbing beloved crest from 14 Division

Unofficial crest of 14 Division, ode to ex-New York Yankee Dave Winfield's seagull arrest, mentioned in retired cop's memoir

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Published May 05, 2026  •  Last updated 3 hours ago  •  4 minute read

The unofficial crest of Toronto Police 14 Division with the Latin phrase "non illegitini (stet) carborundum," which was mentioned in former Toronto Police Insp. Hank Idsinga's memoir. The phrase roughly translates to "don't let the bastards grind you down." Photo by Handout /Toronto Sun

First the seagull was killed on the Blue Jays baseball diamond and now the history of Toronto Police arresting an iconic New York Yankee for hitting the bird with a ball is being scrubbed, too.

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When you wear that police uniform in the big city of Toronto, there is an adage that while things may get under your skin, you don’t ever let the bastards grind you down. True to that saying, even when things pile up on Toronto Police, they just keep plugging away.

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Bomb threats at 16 schools, fires, stabbings, gas leaks, car crashes and a complicated and mysterious murder probe of a guy shot five times in a park with no known motive. This was one busy day for Toronto Police. Of course, just about every day is. But when you have threats on children, a man shot to death in a park while walking his dog, people stabbed, a fire in an apartment building and people worried about an explosion because of leaking gas, heads must have been spinning.

In 14 Division, they have an official Latin saying and crest they use to help them get through each difficult day: “Non illegitini (stet) carborundum,” roughly translated to “don’t let the bastards grind you down” in English.

The front page of the Toronto Sun on Friday, Aug. 5, 1983. Photo by Toronto Sun files

Memo calls for crest to be removed

The patch crest is equally iconic — a caricature of a seagull holding a baseball bat. But this one survived and has been a beloved staple in 14 Division since 1983.

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Until now.

Word leaked out of the west-end division Tuesday that the slogan and logo are no more. A memo went out that said after almost 38 years of being the division’s adopted, unofficial motto, they have been ordered to remove it from the station.

“It has come to our attention that the following Latin motto … has been mentioned in the new book written by former TPS Insp. Hank Idsinga,” the memo addressed to 14 Division said.

It added that since there has been controversy surrounding some of the other comments made in the book, “we in 14 Division do not want to be part of it … effective immediately, this logo must be removed from all station bulletins’ email signatures, etc.”

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History dates to arrest of Dave Winfield

This is what you might call the “Hank Effect” — fallout from the retired Hank Idsinga’s book The High Road: Confessions of a Homicide Cop, which has led to much reaction to recollections of his 34 years on the job including accusations of antisemitism and racism among the senior ranks among other alleged indiscretions.

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On page 34, Idsinga writes, the seagull on the crest was a “nod to an incident in 1983 when New York Yankee Dave Winfield struck and killed a bird while warming up for a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium. Officers from 14 Division arrested Winfield after the game and charged him with cruelty to animals.” The case was dropped by the Crown.

On the meaning of the Latin motto, Idsinga wrote that “I don’t think I began to appreciate what that really meant until my later years,” referring to the grind of being a police officer before ending the book by saying he “finally figured out who they are referring to.”

Const. Laura Brabant told the Toronto Sun that the “unit commander at 14 Division asked for the logo to be removed. It was still showing up on some stationery. The wording was in Latin, so it wasn’t clear what it meant, but it relates to the attached story from the 1980s.”

An internal 14 Division document sent by police rehashes the history of legendary Const. Wayne Hartery, who laid the charge against Winfield, and how the crest became 14 Division’s “mascot” that was used on baseball caps, coffee mugs and T-shirts.

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But that’s not allowed anymore.

‘Hank Effect’ has had mostly positive impact

While the “Hank Effect” has had a positive impact on how police respond to violence toward the Jewish community, has led to Chief Myron Demkiw saying that any racist behaviour from police is unacceptable and the Toronto Police Services Board probing the claims, my feeling as a quasi-Toronto Police historian and documenter is they should pause the cancellation of this.

Don’t erase history, don’t make Idsinga persona non grata and instead embrace the legendary detective and treat what he shined a light on as something that everybody can learn from.

The High Road, the debut memoir from Hank Idsinga, a retired Toronto Police officer who former head of the Homicide Unit. Photo by Simon & Schuster /Amazon

Scrubbing his existence may scare others from blowing the whistle on suspected wrongdoing and it won’t solve any of the problems. You can’t get better if you sweep away the things that need be improved. But history is history and while there are understandably some hard feelings about Idsinga’s book, he talks about how most of the people he served with are fantastic and that he never intended for the book to be a hit piece.

The public needs to know that, too. The cops — from recruits to veteran constables to the chief and rest of the senior ranks — may not always feel the love, but they need to know it’s still there.

There’s no need to overreact or overcompensate to every critic. I say bring back the seagull. It’s a great logo and a great motto.

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