Cobourg Police Service (CPS) Chief Paul VandeGraaf says Ontario’s province-wide anti-corruption inspection launched in the wake of arrests under Project South is shaping up to be one of the most significant tests yet of the province’s reworked police oversight framework.
Project South is a joint-forces investigation that resulted in criminal charges against several current and former police officers in the Greater Toronto Area, including members of the Toronto Police Service and York Regional Police.
Investigators allege the misconduct involved improper access to confidential police databases and other integrity-related offences.
The launch of a provincewide inspection by the Inspector General of Policing suggests provincial oversight officials view the case as raising broader concerns about supervision, safeguards and information security within policing.
The Inspector General of Policing announced the inspection will examine police services across Ontario, including smaller municipal forces such as Cobourg.
VandeGraaf says the review will focus on five broad areas: Supervision and span of control, officer screening and vetting throughout their careers, access to police databases and information systems, evidence and property management, and substance abuse and fitness-for-duty practices.
The inspection comes less than two years after Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA) came into force on April 1, 2024. The legislation replaced the former Police Services Act and restructured oversight through agencies including the Inspector General of Policing and the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA.)
VandeGraaf said the inspection could serve as a real-world test of Ontario’s redesigned oversight framework and says Cobourg police have already formed internal teams to review procedures and identify potential gaps.
He believes the province-wide review could have lasting consequences.
While emphasizing that the allegations tied to Project South involve a small percentage of officers, VandeGraaf says the profession as a whole must respond in order to reinforce transparency and restoring public confidence in policing across Ontario.
Under the Community Safety and Policing Act, the Inspector General of Policing is expected to publish inspection findings publicly.
(Written by: Joseph Goden)
