A major corruption probe that led to the arrest of several Toronto police officers this week could put ongoing criminal court prosecutions at risk if the courts deem the officers' credibility fatal to the cases in question, experts say. The allegations against the officers have the ability to spoil entire cases, Criminal Lawyers' Association president Adam Weisberg says. This has the potential to cause a lot of cases to have to be stayed or withdrawn, he told CBC Toornto.
Police allege fellow officers accepted bribes, aided drug traffickers, leaked personal information to criminals who then carried out shootings and helped members of organized crime in a plot to murder a corrections officer. No corner of society is immune from the reach of organized crime, but when organized crime penetrates the Toronto police service, the harm goes far beyond the immediate wrongdoing, said Chief Myron Demkiw of the deeply disappointing allegations.
