Police in the Greater Toronto Area are proactively ramping up patrols around Jewish places of worship and community gathering spaces as Passover begins Wednesday evening.
Toronto police say the public can expect an increased police presence in residential areas, grocery stores and other locations throughout the weeklong holiday, and rotating command posts will be deployed.
The command posts will appear at a number of synagogues, Baycrest Hospital, the Ledbury Jewish Centre, as well as intersections along Bathurst Street north of the city centre.
Get breaking National news
Meanwhile, police in York Region say they’ll also be increasing patrols during Passover and setting up command posts at two Jewish community centres and a Thornhill mall.
York Regional Police say residents may see officers near places of worship, gathering places and in their neighbourhoods.
Passover, a major Jewish holiday, is set to begin at sundown on Wednesday and will be observed until next Thursday.
The increased police patrols come as Premier Doug Ford says many Jewish people in Ontario are feeling increasingly unsafe.
- Distraction thefts spiking in Peel, police say after woman robbed of $19K in jewelry
- 78-year-old man charged with first-degree murder in partner’s death in Laval
- Court halts Tennessee’s first execution of a woman in 200 years
- Internal police documents reveal concerns about ‘radicalized’ subculture at Montreal North station
In a video posted to social media, Ford reiterated his government’s commitment to addressing antisemitism and protecting Jewish communities and places of worship.
Last month, police in Toronto and York Region said they were investigating shots fired at three Toronto-area synagogues.
News of the shootings drew widespread condemnation from politicians representing all three levels of government and, shortly after, Ottawa earmarked $10 million to help Jewish communities bolster security at gathering places.
The shootings caused building damage but no injuries were reported.
Comments
Comments closed.
Due to the sensitive and/or legal subject matter of some of the content on globalnews.ca, we reserve the ability to disable comments from time to time.
Please see our Commenting Policy for more.