Police services share 2024 statistics on enforcement efforts to combat violence in the towing industry

From the Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau of the OPP

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Provincial Auto Theft and Towing (PATT) Team and Greater Toronto Area (GTA) policing partners, including the Toronto Police Service (TPS), York Regional Police (YRP), Peel Regional Police (PRP), Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) and Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS), continue to provide education and enforce regulations that apply to tow operators. With an intelligence-led approach, policing partners are diligently working together to address criminality in the towing industry to identify, disrupt and dismantle organized crime groups violating regulations and exploiting other tow operators.

Police are aware of ongoing criminality and violence committed by a small percentage of bad actors within the towing industry, and endeavour to lead proactive and intelligence-led investigations to identify those involved and lay charges. Most tow companies and operators are not involved in organized crime or criminal activities and follow regulations under the Towing and Storage Safety and Enforcement Act (TSSEA).

In 2024, law enforcement took proactive measures to ensure legitimacy within the Ontario towing industry, such as enforcement activities, removing illegitimate tow companies, trucks and operators from the road and laying TSSEA charges. The OPP Provincial Tow Program has aimed to improve public safety and help mitigate criminality in Ontario’s towing industry. In order to be an approved Towing and Storage Service Operator (TSSO), a tow operator or tow company must meet certain requirements, including a criminal record check, and certification through the Ministry of Transportation Ontario.

2024 AT A GLANCE: QUICK FACTS

• OPP laid 518 tow-related charges and removed 41 tow trucks from Ontario roads due to violations. OPP Highway Safety Division completed seven proactive commercial motor vehicle (CMV) enforcement initiatives focused on tow inspections, and 30 other CMV enforcement initiatives where tow trucks were subject to inspection.
• TPS continues to crack down on tow truck-related shootings through their Tow Truck Task Force. A total of 507 tow-related charges were laid by TPS under the Highway Traffic Act and TSSEA and three tow trucks were removed from the road.
• DRPS took proactive measures, including a CMV safety initiative, to ensure compliance with safety regulations where 170 tow trucks were inspected, 69 tow-related charges were laid, and 22 tow trucks were removed from the road for safety violations.
• PRP Road Safety Services has conducted inspection and enforcement activities as part of an ongoing initiative since August 2024. To date, two arrests were made under the Criminal Code, 234 tow-related charges laid, 79 inspected tow trucks were found to be non-compliant, and nine tow trucks were removed from the road.
• YRP conducted multiple initiatives aimed at reducing tow-related violence and hosted a training symposium for frontline officers from across the GTA to educate them on the new TSSEA. These initiatives led to 176 tow truck inspections across the region and as a result, 47 tow-related charges were laid under the Highway Traffic Act and TSSEA.

Anyone with information about criminality in the towing industry is encouraged to contact their police service of jurisdiction. If you feel intimidated or threatened by anyone in the towing industry, do not engage, keep distance and contact police. If the OPP is your police of jurisdiction, call 1-888-310-1122 or 9-1-1 in an emergency. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Concerns and complaints regarding tow operators can be filed through the MTO’s website.

KNOW YOUR TOW

The OPP and its partners want to remind the public that they have the right to decide who can tow their vehicle and to what location. Please visit opp.ca/towing to find more information and understand your towing rights.

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