Toronto police officer allegedly becomes intoxicated while guarding dead body

The Toronto police professional standards unit is investigating after a 20-year veteran of the service allegedly became intoxicated while securing a home in which a dead body had been located.

A source, who asked not to be identified, told Global News the incident happened in Toronto’s west end, sometime on Jan. 27. The source said the officer was tasked to guard the home and wait for officials to remove the man’s body. It’s alleged the officer smoked cigars and drank alcohol he found in the home.

After consuming the alcohol, the officer reportedly made some sort of dispatch over the police radio system. The source said the officer’s speech was slurred and that he wasn’t making any sense.

Police and paramedics were eventually dispatched to the officer’s location because he stopped answering calls, the source said.

The source told Global News the officer was found passed out. He was allegedly driven back to the station, dressed in a change of clothes and driven home.

Global News first learned of the incident last week. When asked for comment at the time, both the Toronto Police Service and Toronto Police Association (TPA) said they had no knowledge of the incident and that there wasn’t an ongoing investigation.

Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash told Global News Thursday professional standards investigators are looking into the matter.

TPA President Mike McCormack told Global News in a statement Thursday he is aware of the investigation, but that union officials haven’t received details on the nature of the investigation or the specific allegations. He said it would be “inappropriate” to comment further until “all the facts are known.”