Toronto police apologize for AIDS comment caught on video
On Twitter last night, Toronto Police issued an apology after an officer from the 51 Division was caught on video making an insensitive comment about HIV/AIDS.
The incident occurred while passerby Waseem Khan was filming an arrest near Church and Dundas. Multiple officers told him to stop, including one who said (presumably referring to the man getting arrested):
"He's going to spit in your face and you're going to get AIDS. Stop recording or I'm going to seize your phone."
Many were dismayed by this comment and at about 10:30 p.m. last night, Toronto Police media officer Constable Victor Kwong addressed it, tweeting that an HIV/AIDS expert would be brought in to educate officers.
1st step in righting a wrong: @TPS51Div officer's comment simply wrong. You cannot get HIV/AIDS from spit. We're #sorry. ^vk
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) January 26, 2017
2nd step in righting a wrong: @TPS51Div will bring in outside HIV/AIDS expert to educate their officers. ^vk
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) January 26, 2017
There's also a professional standards and internal affairs investigation underway.
3rd step in righting a wrong: A Professional Standards/Internal Affairs investigation into @TPS51Div incident is underway. ^vk
— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) January 26, 2017
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