Speakers

Chief Myron Demkiw, a Member of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces (M.O.M.), is a 30-year veteran of the Toronto Police Service.

In his most recent role as Deputy Chief, Specialized Operations Command, he oversaw 1,200 police officers, 900 civilian Members, and a budget of $240M. The Command is comprised of the Service’s various investigative squads, a variety of specialized uniform units and Court Services.

Prior to this assignment, as a Staff Superintendent, he was responsible for two different pillars of the organization. He oversaw Corporate Risk Management, which includes Professional Standards, Professional Standards Support and the Toronto Police College; and, prior to this, he was in charge of Detective Services, which includes the Service’s high-profile investigative units, such as the Homicide Squad, Integrated Guns and Gangs Task Force, and the Hold-Up Squad.

Chief Demkiw’s extensive community engagement helped inform his work as a key architect of the Service’s renewed and comprehensive approach to preventing and dealing with gun and gang violence, an issue of key concern for Toronto residents.  Under Chief Demkiw and the Command’s leadership, a progressive, intelligence-led, and precise strategy was developed to strategically target criminal elements while respecting and protecting the communities in which they may be operating.

As a member of the Service’s Command team, along with dedicated officers and civilians across the Service, Chief Demkiw has been instrumental in helping to lead the Service’s significant efforts in police modernization and reform. This includes his role in championing the Service’s implementation of the Board’s 81 police reform directions. Chief Demkiw is dedicated to this bold and progressive agenda, approved by the Board in August 2020, which puts into place a roadmap for comprehensive policing reform, and includes building new community safety response models, initiatives to address systemic racism, and concrete steps to strengthening trust with our communities.  He demonstrates a deep and sincere understanding that, to truly serve and protect the public, policing must be done in meaningful collaboration with members of all of our communities.

In addition, Chief Demkiw helped to launch the Service’s response to the Independent Civilian Review into Missing Persons Investigations, led by the Honourable Gloria Epstein, Q.C., over a three-year period, setting the course for the Service’s role, cooperation, and commitment to this ground-breaking work. The 151 recommendations contained in the Missing and Missed: Report of the Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations are aimed at improving the police handling of missing person investigations. This is a transformative and significant report, and Chief Demkiw is committed to completing this work.

Chief Demkiw participated in the International Leadership in Counter Terrorism (LinCT) Program and is the Co-Chair of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP)’s Counter-Terrorism and National Security Committee.  In addition, he is a member of the CACP National Working Group Supporting Victims of Terrorism and Mass Violence, and was a member of the Countering Violent Extremism Working Group.

A graduate of the University of Toronto, Chief Demkiw attended the Faculty of Law and completed the Global Professional Master of Laws program, and   also earned his Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in both Criminology and Political Science. He is a graduate of the Rotman School of Management’s Police Leadership Program. His commitment to life-long learning, with a focus on law, has served him well as a member of the CACP’s Law Amendments Committee.