In late July, at least five police officers from several different divisions of the Toronto Police Force have been suspended with pay pending an investigation into possible connections with corruption across the towing industry in the GTA. A spokesperson for the Toronto Police confirmed there is an active investigation into professional standards, but currently there haven’t been any criminal charges laid against the police officers involved.
The violence associated with the towing industry in Toronto has seen three tow truck drivers shot and killed, numerous others seriously injured and over two dozen trucks torched and vandalized. Project Platinum, which is a police task force investigating the towing industry, made a number of arrests with more to come. They also uncovered a handful of organized crime groups involved in the towing turf wars around the GTA.
Following that investigation, questions have surfaced about the role police officers played in the towing wars. One officer, Const. Ronald Joseph, has been accused of stealing an encrypted police radio and giving it to a tow truck driver. Tow truck drivers were using this radio to find out about accidents as they happened, so they could be the first on scene and get the business. Additionally, Joseph owns two tow trucks of his own so he had an unfair advantage against other tow truck companies.
Police officers have executed 11 search warrants, but none of the accused officers have had their personal homes searched. Overall, York Regional Police have arrested 30 people connected to the problems within the towing industry and associated with four different organized crime rings in the towing and body shop industry.
While there are investigations into the homicides and arson cases associated with the towing industry, there are also accusations that some groups paid physiotherapists to report exaggerated injuries for kickbacks. Retaliation against these investigations went so far as to torch one of the law firms hired by insurance companies to probe further into the personal injury claims.
Premier Doug Ford announced in late June that there will be a joint task force to determine how to regulate the towing industry. He was surprised by all the violence in the industry and has promised to find a way to make it safer for all those who work in it. The result of this task force will be to implement provide-wide regulations. There are currently only a few municipalities that have introduced bylaws regulating who can tow and how much they can charge for it. In the majority of Ontario cities, tow truck operators do not need a license to tow.
These investigations are ongoing, and York Region Police along with Ontario Provincial Police are continuing to lay charges as they determine everyone involved in the crimes of the towing industry. Even though the police continue to investigate, incidents are still happening and people are getting hurt. If the province can determine regulations for this industry, those who are operating criminal organizations can be stopped and companies taking kickbacks will lessen. Most professional organizations have some kind of regulation, so it only makes sense that the towing industry joins them.
At Toronto tow truck we do not condone any of this illegal activity, we do work closely with law enforcement but we go through all the proper channels and conduct our business in an ethical manner. If you ever need our towing services we are open 24/7.
Full story over at CBC – https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-police-suspensions-in-tow-truck-probe-1.5649083