6 Toronto police officers charged in corruption probe now suspended without pay

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Six Toronto police officers charged in a months-long corruption probe are now suspended without pay, the Toronto Police Service says.

Nadine Ramadan, spokesperson for the police, confirmed in an email Friday the six officers charged in Project South are no longer receiving their salary while they await trial.

The change in the officers’ status comes after Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw started the suspension without pay process under Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act on Feb. 9.

A seventh officer, Const. Derek McCormick, is currently suspended with pay, but he was served with notice on March 2 that his status will also change to suspended without pay after 60 days from that date.

The seven police officers, along with a retired Toronto police officer and 19 civilians, are charged as part of the sweeping probe that began last June after York Regional Police officers uncovered an alleged conspiracy to kill a senior corrections officer at an Ontario detention centre.

The case has since expanded into a wide-ranging corruption and organized crime investigation.

Some of the officers are accused of leaking information to an organized crime group that used it to carry out robberies, extortions and shootings.

Three Peel Region police officers were later suspended in connection with the investigation.

A Greater Toronto Area jail guard was also arrested in March and charged with four offences in connection to the corruption probe.

The charges have not been tested in court.

The officers now suspended without pay are:

• Const. Timothy Barnhardt.
• Sgt. Robert Black.
• Const. John Madeley (Jr.).
• Sgt. Carl Grellette.
• Const. Saurabjit Bedi.
• Const. Elias Mouawad.