Toronto cop suspended for alleged leak of information in ‘potential risk’ scare

TORONTO — A Toronto police officer has been suspended after allegedly leaking information about a “potential risk” in the Greater Toronto Area that was investigated last week, authorities said Tuesday.

Uncorroborated information about a potential risk led the force to increase its presence in the city’s downtown core on Thursday, but police simultaneously urged the public not to avoid the neighbourhood that includes attractions such as the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre, sparking confusion and concern among some locals.

The officer who was suspended with pay is being investigated by the force’s Professional Standards unit and is accused of sharing information regarding Thursday’s situation with someone outside the force, said police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray.

Gray said the officer allegedly shared the information with a “private-sector partner” of police — rather than a member of the media, the government or the general public.

“The investigation will determine whether he faces unit-level discipline, whether he will go in front of [an internal] tribunal, whether the allegations are unfounded,” she said.

As a matter of standard protocol, the officer’s name will not be released to the public unless he is charged with a professional offence under the Police Services Act and referred to a tribunal, Gray said.

A formal tribunal is also the only form of internal discipline that police would tell the public about, as is standard practice.

Gray said the force’s Professional Standards unit is also conducting a second, separate investigation into the leak of a draft memo on Thursday that said officers had received “credible information regarding a potential vehicle ramming attack in the area of the CN Tower.”

The leaked document was a “draft operational plan” and was not approved for release, Gray said, adding that police gave the public all the information officers had at the time.

Thursday’s developments began with a tweet sent by police at 9:30 a.m. that an “unconfirmed, uncorroborated piece of information” about the GTA had led them to boost the number of officers downtown.

Police then held a news conference saying the heightened police presence in the core was a response to information about a potential risk, but that there was no reason to avoid the downtown area or any of Toronto’s major attractions.