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As the former head of homicide for Toronto police, Hank Idsinga was instrumental in solving some of the city’s most notorious crimes.
His new memoir, ‘The High Road: Confessions Of A Homicide Cop’ delves into many of those gripping tales.
But the seasoned cop didn’t just stare down stone cold killers.
Idsinga, whose grandfather was murdered in the Holocaust, also claims he stared down “racism and dysfunction” within the ranks at Toronto Police Service (TPS), outlining instances of alleged antisemitism that left him “feeling physically ill.”
Idsinga discussed his bombshell memoir with Faiza Amin on CityNews 24/7.
In the book Idsinga emphasizes that “the members of the Toronto Police Service are overwhelmingly good, decent people…” but says the police force is not immune to the “personal biases that exist in society,” including antisemitism, anti-Black racism, misogyny and homophobia.
“As long as they exist in society, they will continue to exist in the police service too,” he wrote.
Idsinga said he’s seen evidence of “vile racism in the uppermost ranks of the police service.”
In one instance, Idsinga said a positive video was shared internally about a divisional officer.
“I happened to walk up when a senior officer was watching it,” he recalled. “The senior officer hit pause, looked at me, and said, “The only reason he gets away with this is because he’s a f*****g Jew.”
He says the same senior officer, who went unnamed, also referred to a kosher barbeque as a “Jew-q,” a comment he says he at the time “chalked up to a bad attempt at humour.”
“They had no idea about my heritage,” he added.
When members of his office had to do a presentation to a lawyer at police headquarters, Idsinga wrote that the same senior officer remarked, “I can’t believe we have to pander to this f*****g Jew.”
“It’s amazing how a few bad apples can absolutely destroy the reputations of an organization that numbers in the thousands,” he wrote.
Idsinga told CityNews his grandfather’s murder during the Holocaust prompted his interest in policing, and it was upsetting to face antisemitism as his career wound down.
“Great job, loved the job, loved most of the people on the job, still have many friends and a lot of great memories, and some very sad memories that I talk about in there (the book),” he told CityNews. “But towards the end of my career dealing with a senior officer who made some pretty vile, antisemitic comments to me was just ironic that my career ended that way.”
His explosive allegations did not go unnoticed by the Toronto Police Service. Idsinga said TPS members have approached him to discuss the book — an invitation he has rejected.
“They have reached out to me, I haven’t responded,” he said. “I’ve made it clear that I won’t respond.”
During a recent unrelated media conference, TPS Deputy Chief Robert Johnson, was asked about Idsinga’s allegations and criticized him for making them public and not reporting them internally while he was still on the job.
“If he was aware of member misconduct, I think he had the duty and responsibility to make the organization aware through mechanisms that we have in place so that we can deal with this. We take this very seriously,” Johnson said.
Idsinga said he never considered filing a formal complaint with TPS “because the very people and the very institution that I would be complaining to about this, are the ones I would have to rely on to conduct that investigation, and I have no faith in them whatsoever to conduct that investigation.”
“Making a formal complaint was absolutely out of the question.”
Toronto Police Association (TPA) president, Clayton Campbell, addressed the book’s allegations during a recent radio appearance.
Campbell stressed that he didn’t question Idsinga’s experiences, but said they represent only a small minority of officers.
“Our members every day do the best they can and protect anybody, and the vast majority would literally put their lives on the line to protect others, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, what religion they are. They do the best they can.”