Toronto police will be redeploying some officers to form the Organized Crime Investigative Support Team, which will begin operating this week. .“The Organized Crime Investigative Support Team will enhance our specialized investigative capacity by allowing us to put more resources into detecting and solving complex crimes that impact public safety,” said Toronto police chief James Ramer in a Wednesday press release. .The Organized Crime Investigative Support Team will be made up of officers from different ranks and civilian support staff, according to the press release..The team will focus on citywide major crimes that other units cannot investigate or have connections to organized crime. .Some of the crimes that the team will investigate are carjackings, auto thefts, and abductions. .Toronto Mayor John Tory welcomed the launch of the team. .“This smart, targeted response is one more way our police service is working to address serious crimes in our city and keep residents safe," said Tory.."I fully support the non-stop work our police officers are doing to tackle organized crime and bring those responsible to justice.” .The team will work with police forces across Ontario and has been helping the force to investigate recent carjackings in Toronto. .“We are reassigning officers to this team to enhance our specialized investigative capacity so we can adapt and address current increases in crime including auto theft and carjackings,” said Ramer..“The latter of which can put residents in harm’s way when a weapon is used.”.Tory wrote a letter to Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra to ask them for help with confronting carjackings in the city. .“I believe we all must work together even more now to further address the concerning rise in auto theft and improve public safety in the City,” he said. .Toronto police said auto thefts have gone up by 55% in the last year, which is the largest increase of all major crimes they monitor. There have been more carjackings in Toronto to date this year than at this time last year, and this total might soon exceed the amount of incidents in 2021.
