Former Toronto police chief Bill McCormack dead

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Former Toronto police chief Bill McCormack dead
By Maryam Shah, Toronto Sun
First posted: Thursday, September 08, 2016 03:48 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, September 08, 2016 10:39 PM EDT
Former Toronto Police Chief Bill McCormack has died.
Toronto Police confirmed McCormack's death early Thursday afternoon.
McCormack served as chief of police in the early 1990s, and retired in 1995, after 35 years with the service.
His son, Mike McCormack, is the current head of the Toronto Police Association.
More to come.
Mike McCormack remembers his father – former police chief William McCormack – as a man who was “ahead of his time.”
“He exemplified what it was to be an officer, what it was like to be a human being,” the younger McCormack, who is head of the police association, told the Sun in a phone interview.
His father, well-known as Bill McCormack, died Thursday afternoon at the age of 83.
“He was an extremely compassionate person who treated everybody fairly,” said Mike. “He was an inspiration not only to his five children but to many people.”
Mike and three of his five siblings ended up in policing because of their father, he added.
All five of them, along with the elder McCormack’s wife, were by his side until he passed. According to his son Mike, he had some health problems.
McCormack served as chief of Toronto Police — then known as Metropolitan Toronto Police — from 1989 to 1995. His career with the service lasted 35 years.
When McCormack’s retirement was looming, hundreds petitioned that he stay on as chief — this, amid rumours he was being pushed out by rivals on the city’s police services board.
Current Chief Mark Saunders remembers his late predecessor as the kind of chief who once waded into a police union meeting to reassure its members.
Saunders was a constable under McCormack’s tenure. At a press conference where he offered condolences to those mourning McCormack’s passing, he recounted a time when a “contentious issue” emerged between the Toronto Police Association and the police service’s management back then.
“Chief McCormack actually came to the meeting and sat down and spoke with us, which is something that is rare and basically said ‘Look, you folks, you worry about police work and I’ll worry about all that other stuff, but just keep the city safe,’” said Saunders, adding that McCormack’s legacy includes the creation of the force’s ceremonial unit as well as the Toronto Police museum.
Const. Scott Mills met McCormack after he had already stepped down as chief.
Even then, the former top cop remained involved in helping out younger officers.
“He made you feel important, he made you feel what you had to say mattered, and he wanted to help you along the journey for community safety,” said Mills. “He knew everybody by name.
“Even after he was retired, when you needed advice, you could call him up ... and he’d meet you for a coffee and just give you advice.”
Former councillor Norm Gardner was a member of the police board during McCormack’s time as top cop.
“Number one, (officers’) morale when he was chief was very good,” said Gardner, who had supported the push to keep the chief. “He had a good rapport with the people he worked with.”
“He was very respected in policing circles,” Gardner said, noting that policing was in McCormack’s bloodline. “His dad was in charge of the police on the island of Mauritius, so he was brought up in that kind of environment.”
Senator Art Eggleton was mayor for some of McCormack’s time as chief.
“I always thought of him as being the consummate police officer,” said Eggleton. “I always thought he carried it with great dignity.”
McCormack’s visitation will be held Sunday at Jerrett Funeral Home in Thornhill, from 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
The funeral is set for 11 a.m. Monday at St. Paul’s Basilica in Toronto, followed by a private internment open to family only.
A book of condolences is available in the lobby of Toronto Police headquarters for members of the police service and the public until Monday.
- With files by Terry Davidson

Former Toronto police chief Bill McCormack dead | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto

 

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Former police chief Bill McCormack's funeral Monday

By Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun
First posted: Sunday, September 11, 2016 04:14 PM EDT | Updated: Sunday, September 11, 2016 05:28 PM EDT
Kindness, fairness, toughness, compassion, integrity, honour, respect, charity, service, leadership and common sense.
Former police chief Bill McCormack, who died at 83 this week, walked this walk for decades. He also inspired others to follow his example.
He was a cop’s cop who could out politick the politicians he dealt with on the now-defunct Metro council.
Toronto is not just burying a former police chief Monday at 11 a.m. at St. Paul’s Basilica on Power St., at Queen St. E. The city is burying a legacy.
Time away from the top cop’s job has not eroded the enormous regard in which he was held.
Or gratitude for what he delivered during a long policing career in which he helped groom other great police chiefs, including David Boothby, Julian Fantino, (acting) Mike Boyd, Bill Blair and Mark Saunders.
You always knew when you were in the presence of McCormack — even if it was two decades after his tenure as chief, which ran from 1989 to 1995.
He exuded pride and demanded exceptionalism whether you were in uniform, writing about those who are or overseeing them.
He was old school but modern at the same time.
When it came to police officers diving into community-style policing, he was encouraging — walk the beat, get ahead of the problems, know the names in the neighbourhood and celebrate the diversity.
He was the son of Irish immigrants — born on the island of Mauritius in 1933 where his dad was a cop. He was proud of it and how his family helped protect Jewish and other marginalized people during the Second World War.
“Life is precious,” he once told me. “Every life.”
He kept that with him all the way through his career in policing which included time in homicide. Every murder left a mark on him and every fallen officer a scar.
He was shaken when Const. Todd Baylis was murdered — as chief, as a Torontonian, but also as a father of police officers.
Four of his five children — Billy, Mike, Jamie and Kathy — followed in their thrilled dad’s footsteps.
One of the favourite things for new police officers to do was to stop by the chief’s home to check out his own personal policing museum which included artifacts from many generations. He was just a good guy to talk with.
He did not like discrimination against anybody. Believing no one is flawless, McCormack thought everyone should be judged by the sincerity of their actions.
He also strove to ensure things made sense.
The fact that Toronto’s St. Patrick’s Day parade had been banned for 80 years — after a police officer was shot outside of St. Lawrence Market — was an example. The chief helped restore it.
Chief McCormack loved policing. He was policing. This was a perfect recipe for conflict with civilians who were talking a language of change we are so used to hearing today.
Hence the public battles with then Police Service’s Board Chair Susan Eng, who was a formidable foe for the chief. She brought her own set of skills and was not shy about flexing her own authority.
When McCormack’s retirement was looming, hundreds petitioned that he stay on as chief — this, amid rumours he was being pushed out by rivals on the city’s police services board.
“He is one of the best police chiefs ever and he should not be forced to retire until he is 65,” yelled legendary Toronto Sun columnist Bob McDonald, a journalist in the city since the 1950s.
Bob helped lead the famous rally for the chief outside of the College St. headquarters. If you can imagine, 1,000 people showed up to support a chief and not protest against him. McCormack stayed on a few extra months but had set a precedent for future chiefs to fight against politicians trying to direct policing.
McCormack was always respectful of people but was never politically correct and never bowed down to it.
Clearly, when we bury this policing legend, we are burying more than just a former chief of the Toronto Police.

Former police chief Bill McCormack's funeral Monday | WARMINGTON | Toronto & GTA

 

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Bill McCormack was chief in their hearts

By Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun
First posted: Monday, September 12, 2016 07:24 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, September 12, 2016 07:47 PM EDT
TORONTO - Farewell to the chief.
And a husband, a father, a grandfather and a great-grandfather, too.
Bill McCormack was so much to so many.
Toronto’s police chief from 1989-1995, he performed all his roles with exquisite style, stamina and substance.
As his casket was escorted into St. Paul’s Basilica church by a ceremonial guard and to the stirring sounds of pipes and drums on Monday, you could see the different generations his life affected.
“Today’s was a very fitting tribute: Warm, loving, as befits someone who was both a gentleman and a gentle man,” Mayor John Tory said. “Somewhere in there there was a core of steel, but it was exceeded by 25 layers of charm. He was a giant and he will be missed.”
Tory is so right.
To veteran cops and politicians, McCormack was a leader to eventual leaders. To his grandkids and their kids, he was “Papa.”
While a celebration of a remarkable man’s even more remarkable life, it was a sombre day for his family, whom he loved very much and who clearly loved him even more.
Seeing those young children in tears was a reminder that a person’s professional achievements pale when compared with real life.
McCormack had incredible relationships with his family.
“I was born blessed,” said his daughter Lisa, who with great McCormack flare for humour told the packed church she was the child who was not “four of the five who followed in his footsteps and became police officers.”
The chief was awfully proud that Kathy, Jamie, Mike and Bill Jr. all became police officers, for sure, but Lisa said she was still a superstar to her dad.
“He was with me every step of the way,” she said. “He was my protector, my mentor, my teacher and he was my best friend.”
There were so many funny lines spoken at this tribute, including by son Mike, president of the Toronto Police Association, explaining a bit of his father’s philosophy on fashion.
“Jeans were only to be worn by coal miners,” and “dress shirts come in many colours of white.”
On footwear? Only “Jesus could wear sandals,” and the only time the kids would ever need running shoes would be if they ever treated their mother, Jean, badly.
Bill Jr. said his dad loved his wife and his family more than anything, but “he cared about people in general.”
Being a cop was perfect for him because helping people was his strong suit. It came easy to him.
He helped a lot of cops be better, too.
“He inspired a lot of careers,” said former OPP commissioner Chris Lewis. “He was impeccably dressed at all times and formal. When I met him years later, he would refer to me as commissioner and not Chris.”
And of course, Lewis knew the correct way to respond to his friend Bill, by calling him chief.
Same goes for former Toronto Police chief Bill Blair
“He was my chief for six years,” Blair said.
He was always his chief.
“A lot of things you see in policing today may not have Bill McCormack’s name on them, but it was he who brought them in,” Blair said.
Current Chief Mark Saunders agreed, saying community policing, engaging with the public and making an effort to get to know all the constables in the divisions are areas where McCormack broke ground as chief.
Niagara Regional Police Chief Jeff McGuire said McCormack’s greatness goes back to long before he was known as a chief — those years he won accolades as a homicide detective.
“He was an incredible investigator,” McGuire said.
“The man was a policing legend,” Toronto Sun crime reporter Chris Doucette said. “But he was so much more.”
Former mayor Mel Lastman summed it up perfectly: “Bill McCormack was a great man.”
Former premier Mike Harris concurred.
“I admired him,” Harris said. “He was demanding and tough but he had a soft side. I liked him.”
It was hard to not like Chief McCormack.
It was amazing seeing all of those faces there at the site of Toronto’s first Catholic Church — at Power and Queen Sts. — to remember Toronto’s first Catholic police chief.
“His impact was enormous,” said Toronto Police Services Board Chair Andy Pringle.
“Bill was a very special police chief,” former chair Norm Gardner added.
But, as it turns out he was an even more special husband, dad, grandfather and great-grandfather.
jwarmington@postmedia.com

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