Jack Ackroyd
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John Wesley Ackroyd (1925 – September 29, 1992) was a prominent Canadian
Chief of Police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the b ...
and high level
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
civil servant. He served as the chief of the Metro Toronto Police Force from 1980 to 1984. Known as an ideas man, and 'kind cop' he introduced
community policing Community policing, or community-oriented policing (COP), is a strategy of policing that focuses on developing relationships with community members. It is a philosophy of full-service policing that is highly personal, where an officer patrols ...
when he was the deputy chief. Though later, during his term as the chief, the biggest mass civilian arrest since the Second World War occurred in Toronto's Gay district. Following his retirement from the police force, he was head of the
Liquor Control Board of Ontario The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Provinces of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Legislati ...
from 1984 to 1990, where he modernized the retail operations and its marketing.


Policing career

Jack Ackroyd joined the
Toronto Police Department The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police ser ...
as cadet, in 1941. He rose through the ranks and by the mid 1970s, was a deputy police chief. During this period he earned the nickname "Kojak", after the 1970s TV show and character
Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, ...
. One of his biggest accomplishments was introducing "
community policing Community policing, or community-oriented policing (COP), is a strategy of policing that focuses on developing relationships with community members. It is a philosophy of full-service policing that is highly personal, where an officer patrols ...
" to the Metro force in the late 1970s. This so-called "more humane" style of policing was lauded by the media and politicians alike. Ackroyd will be remembered for this major innovation and for the following dark incidents that occurred on his watch.


1977 Yonge Street clean-up

During the spring and summer of 1977, Toronto's city and metro councils were under pressure to do something about the sex trade and sex shops that were housed in the area along Yonge street from Queen to Bloor streets following the death of the twelve-year-old shoe-shine boy, Emanuel Jaques.Beare, p.25 The crisis was more political than real; nevertheless, under pressure from Toronto mayor
David Crombie David Edward Crombie (born April 24, 1936) is a Canadian former academic and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Toronto from 1972 to 1978. Crombie was elected to Parliament following his tenure as mayor. A member of the Progressive Cons ...
, Ackroyd had to plan and implement a neighbourhood sweep on the scale of the 1968 Yorkville sweep.Beare, p.26 Like in the Yorkville "crisis", Yonge street did not pose a major policing problem. The police were not raising a fuss for something to be done, it was the politicians, this time led by Crombie. Another factor driving this sweep was economic, as the newly opened Eaton Centre did not want this 'riff-raff' near its business establishment. So, over the course of a few months, Ackroyd – following the political directives issued by city council and the provincial government – ordered his officers to step up their patrols on this commercial strip and forced the closure of many shops and arrested prostitutes and their clients.


1981 Bathhouse raids

Jack Ackroyd became the Metro Force's Chief of Police in 1980 following the tenure of Harold Adamson (police chief). Again political – not policing – concerns overshadowed how the Gay Community around the Church and Wellesly area should be monitored. Ackroyd, in an interview with the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'', talked about the political pressure he was under to do something about the so-called problem: On February 5, 1981, under his reign as police chief, one of Canada's largest civilian round-ups occurred in the city's gay ghetto. It was the infamous " Bathhouse raids" and as the CBC reported "the largest
mass arrest A mass arrest occurs when police apprehend large numbers of suspects at once. This sometimes occurs at protests. Some mass arrests are also used in an effort to combat gang activity. This is sometimes controversial, and lawsuits sometimes result. I ...
in Canada since the October Crisis of 1970." Over 300 people were arrested and Ackroyd defended it by the fact that there were several criminal code violations and that he "...as Chief, have no other course of action but to go along with the direction of the Crown Attorney." Large protests followed these raids, and the raids became a rallying symbol for the Gay community. Because the raids took place in the middle of a provincial election, it was seen by many observers including the ''Toronto Star'', that the raids were politically motivated to help the ruling Conservative government gain a majority. Jack Ackroyd's term saw the chief's role increasingly politicized. Two years later, in another interview with the ''Star'', Ackroyd even agrees that the chief's job has become too politicized. His career was an interesting dichotomy of progressive reform with the community-based policing approach, as well as accusations that the police force became an instrument for political advantage as seen in his handling of the policing of the Gay community.


Post Police Chief career


Head of the LCBO

At the age of 58, Jack Ackroyd made a career change: he became an Ontario Civil Servant, by accepting the position of vice-chairman of the LCBO. In quick succession, he became the chairman of the public sector corporation, and immediately set about reforming it. Under his watch, the LCBO launched Project Image, which improved the retail end of its operations in many ways. He was responsible for ordering the redesign of the board's logo – which was in use until the early 2000s – to a burgundy and gold design. To improve the image of the retail locations, he made sure that newly designed uniforms were issued to sales staff. In an effort to bring more modern in-store marketing techniques, he authorized store managers to mount discreet product displays. General marketing outside the retail locations was modernized to include bus shelter posters and other forms of advertising. Ackroyd also made the visibility of the higher quality Vintages stores more known and important. His term as the LCBO's chairman can be summarized as bringing the board from a
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...
-era government substance control agency, to a modern, customer-friendly corporation that made billions of dollars for the
Ontario Government The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governorâ ...
. Ackroyd hadn't completely abandoned his policing background during this time though. He made sure his policing legacy would endure by donating the funds for an "academic excellence in police related studies" prize, administered by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Research Foundation.


Sickness and death

Ackroyd spent many months confined to a hospital bed due to a blood illness. He died in the early morning hours of September 30, 1992 at
Toronto General Hospital The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue's Hospital ...
from long-term complications due to the blood disorder. His funeral was held on October 3, 1992, at
Timothy Eaton Memorial Church Timothy Eaton Memorial Church is a church located at 230 St. Clair Avenue West in Forest Hill, Toronto, Forest Hill, Toronto, Ontario. Originally Methodist Church, Canada, Methodist, since 1925, it has belonged to the United Church of Canada. The ...
, a house of worship accustomed to holding the city's notable funeral services. An official tribute, on the floor of the Ontario Legislature, by Bob Runciman, the
MPP MPP or M.P.P. may refer to: * Marginal physical product * Master of Public Policy, an academic degree * Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), Canada * Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape), South Africa * ''Merriweather Post Pavilio ...
for Leeds—Grenville, stated that "Jack Ackroyd set an example that continues to be the goal of Metro's men and women in blue. While he will be sadly missed by us all, there is comfort in knowing that his style and professional manner will be with us for many years to come."


References and notes


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ackroyd, Jack Toronto police chiefs 1925 births 1992 deaths Place of birth missing