Details of review into Umar Zameer trial coming, police say

Article content

An independent review of Toronto Police conduct during the trial of Umar Zameer has been completed by the OPP with its findings to be released later in “due course,” Chief Myron Demkiw’s office said.

Article content

The announcement Tuesday, which included no new details on the probe, followed a request made by Demkiw in April 2024 for the OPP to independently review officer testimony, conduct, procedures, practices and training after Zameer was found not guilty of all criminal charges relating to the death of Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup.

Article content

Article content

A statement from Demkiw’s office said the force is reviewing the report and “taking the necessary time to notify and brief affected individuals about the findings before they are released publicly.

“The service is committed to transparency and will release the report publicly once these notifications have been completed,” the statement said.

“Further information will be shared in due course.”

Article content

Article content

Plainclothes officer killed in 2021

The Toronto Police Association, the union that represents the city’s rank-and-file officers, said in a statement to the CBC that it had been notified of the review’s completion and that it would continue to support members and Northrup’s family through the process.

Northrup, a 31-year veteran of the force who was working out of 52 Division, was in plainclothes in a parking garage under Toronto City Hall when he was struck by a vehicle and killed in the line of duty on July 2, 2021.

Zameer was charged with first-degree murder in the case before being found not guilty by a jury in 2024.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

Internal probe also ordered

Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy apologized to Zameer after the decision for what he had endured over the three years since he was charged. She also said she didn’t see how the jury could convict him of a lesser second-degree murder charge, let alone first-degree murder.

Article content

She also said it was possible that three officers who served as witnesses in the trial had colluded in their testimonies.

Those comments led Demkiw to request the OPP review as well as an internal probe of all aspects of plainclothes policing, including equipment and procedures for officer and public safety.

The CBC reported that the officers involved in the case insisted that they had not discussed their evidence with anyone else.

— With files from Toronto Sun staff.

Article content