Ontario’s Inspector General of Policing suggests new actions for police combatting antisemitism

The seven actions include improving how police support victims and how they track and identify Jew-hatred. The post Ontario’s Inspector General of Policing suggests new actions for police combatting antisemitism appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News .

The Inspector General of Policing in Ontario is encouraging police services across the province to take seven new actions that will strengthen their responses to rising antisemitism. On July 14, Ryan Teschner released his first Notice of Issue: The Increase in Antisemitism and Hate-Motivated Incidents since he was appointed to the Inspector General position in 2023. Notices of Issue point out policing problems that may impact public safety and confidence, and they suggest changes across Ontario’s police institutions based on statistics, research, and consultations with police and community members, Teschner says.

Teschner’s notice was written after speaking with Jewish community organizations and 14 municipal police organizations on June 15. Its seven actions include improving how police support victims, how they track and identify Jew-hatred, and how they’re taught about antisemitic symbols or certain legal tools. “It’s important to note that police services and boards already have (taken) and are taking steps to support affected communities, and in this case the Jewish community,” Teschner told The CJN.

“The purpose of this notice is not to impose a one-size-fits-all approach, but to support ongoing, continuous improvement in this particular area, to enhance consistency, and share practices.” In the notice, Teschner says Canada’s Jewish communities represent less than one per cent of the country’s population but have become the “most targeted group for hate crimes in Canada” since 2023. Teschner describes recent antisemitic attacks as a “disproportionate rise of hate-motivated incidents against the Jewish community.”

“No one should feel unsafe in their neighbourhoods, their places of worship, schools, or businesses because of who they are or what they believe,” Teschner says. Mark Sandler is chair of the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism (ALCCA), which brings together more than 70 Canadian organizations to improve public education on Jew-hatred and provide legal and advocacy support to people impacted by antisemitism. Sandler commends the Notice of Issue as an “initial step” because he says Teschner and the police recognize “this isn’t the end of the process, but the beginning.”

A major point Sandler made in the June 15 discussion that became a Notice of Issue action was expanding support for victims. Some people who report antisemitism are not informed of the charges applied to the accused or the terms of their bail, he says. Other victims aren’t consulted when the prosecution resolves a charge through peace bonds or negotiating guilty pleas.

“We saw far too many instances where the complainants in cases didn’t know what happened to their case and only learned about it after the fact,” Sandler says. “They should have input in the positions taken by the prosecution.” Involving victims in decision making will “inspire greater public confidence” in what happens to cases and help them “as they go through a difficult process,” Sandler adds.

Richard Robertson, director of research and advocacy for B’nai Brith Canada, called the notice “the type of action that we need in order to confront the crisis of antisemitism” across both Ontario and Canada. He says the action calling for more consistent release conditions when people on bail are accused of hate-motivated crimes is part of the country’s ongoing discussion on bail reform. “If individuals are going to be released after they’ve been charged with a criminal offense, it’s imperative that they no longer pose a threat to the community that they victimized,” Robertson says.

Sandler says consistency in release conditions doesn’t mean there should be fixed bail requirements for all cases. “What it means is the terms that should be imposed have to take into consideration the public interest,” he says. “It’s really quite inadequate if somebody’s engaging in violent activity or hate speech at a protest at location A, to simply prevent them from going back to location A. One has to consistently apply terms that are likely to prevent repeat behaviour at another location.”

He says this requires prosecutors and police to have meaningful discussions so they understand the nuances and antisemitic implications of each case. The action to provide “consistent training on contemporary antisemitism and the legal and other tools to respond,” will help raise awareness of certain laws that Sandler says are underused by police in some jurisdictions when addressing antisemitism. During anti-Israel protests, he says there have been “too many instances” of hateful Jewish caricatures or talking points that police have not known how to shut down.

“If you see protest activity that is interfering with the ability to use the infrastructure in the city... the police have remedies that exist in criminal law,” Sandler says, adding that some remedies include laying charges of intimidation, unlawful assembly, and “interference with the lawful use and enjoyment of property.” Robertson says this Notice of Issue action fits B’nai Brith Canada’s mission to show people the nuances of modern antisemitism, since there’s been a recent “failure” to accurately respond to new forms of Jew-hatred. “We cannot fight something that we do not appreciate and understand.

Antisemitism is the world’s oldest form of hatred, it’s constantly evolving,” he says. “Individuals need to understand —especially police — when anti-Zionist manifestations become antisemitic.” Teschner says there are no set deadlines or outcomes to meet for the Notice of Issue, but he will supervise Ontario’s policing institutions.

The Inspectorate of Policing will also publicly release reports on their progress. Teschner could not say when or how frequently the reports will be written. The Inspector General’s office has also been asked to investigate allegations of systemic antisemitism raised by a now-retired head of the Toronto Police homicide unit, Inspector Hank Idsinga.

The chair of the Toronto Police Service Board, Shelley Carroll, announced on May 15, that an independent inspection will be conducted into the issues raised in Idsinga’s recent book, The High Road: Confessions of a Homicide Cop.