STILL ON THE HOOK
As the one-year mark on several overhauls to Ontario’s towing industry approaches tow truck operators looking to reapply as OPP-requested services are on the hook to complete their own electronic criminal record checks following a series of updates to the provincial program. This is a new addition to the application specifying which police detachment they wish to partner with, due Oct. 15. Operators outside the borders of the GTA tow zones will see no changes to the way dispatching works, with the exception that only TSSOs on the OPP’s request list will receive calls from police for assistance, rather than the previous free-forall. Documentation to apply as an OPP-requested TSSO can be found on the OPP website.
TOWING THE LINE
Alberta RCMP recently learned that tow truck operators were paid to refuse their requests to help clear a highway blockade near a federal border crossing during the 2022 “Freedom Convoy” protests, according to evidence revealed during the Emergencies Act inquiry. A written testimony from a high-ranking security official in Alberta suggested that the RCMP officers faced challenges when they tried to recruit tow trucks to move vehicles used in blockades. An Alberta assistant deputy minister told the Emergencies Act inquiry that tow truck operators were “reluctant” to sign up to help after protesters blockaded the highway; he also said some truckers told the police they were paid to not assist law enforcement.
SPECIAL TREATMENT
Details from an internal investigation from the Ontario Provincial Police’s (OPP) Professional Standards Unit have uncovered that two Mississauga, Ont.-based police officers, were arrested for allegedly giving preferential treatment to certain tow truck operators within the GTA. The two officers had been on paid suspension since January 2021 while an investigation, first spawned from a February 2019 internal complaint, was carried out to determine their culpability. The pair were released on undertakings and are scheduled to attend a Brampton court next year.
