Police work around the scene at 50 Old Colony Rd. in Toronto on Dec. 15, 2017.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
One month after Barry and Honey Sherman were found dead in their north Toronto mansion, Toronto's police union is expressing concerns about the resources being dedicated to the high-profile case – and the demand it is putting on what they say is an already understaffed service.
For four weeks, the Sherman's Old Colony Road mansion – where the billionaire couple's bodies were discovered by their real estate agent on Dec. 15, hanging from a railing near the indoor pool in their basement – has been taped off, while investigators comb the 12,000 square-foot home.
Two officers on each shift guard the property 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Michael McCormack, president of the Toronto Police Association, said on Friday, adding that these officers could be better used elsewhere.
"It's been a huge demand on police resources," Mr. McCormack said, calling a month an unusual length of time to hold a scene.
"Our members are saying: 'This is ridiculous. We're being tied up each and every day. This is going on indefinitely. We don't know when this is going to conclude. And in the meantime, we're concerned about other people on our shift who are going out there trying to do patrol, respond to calls, all the other components of policing, and we just don't have the resources.'"
Earlier this week, the 33 Division officers assigned to guard the house were swapped out with members of the Public Safety Response Team (PSRT), which is usually assigned to parades, demonstrations and other large events.
"Policing in the city requires adapting to a variety of situations," Toronto Police spokesperson Mark Pugash said, declining to comment on the total number of investigators assigned to the case. "We have the ability to move resources around the city as necessary."
Mr. McCormack said his members have cited calls – including a harassment complaint and a break-and-enter in which a suspect was reported as potentially still on scene – that officers could not attend as a result of guarding duties at the Sherman house.
The PSRT will help, Mr. McCormack said, but it is a "Band-Aid solution."
He said he is not questioning the investigation itself – "our investigators are going to make sure they do their jobs thoroughly, and it's not about saying 'we will be done on this date'" – but he added that it has exacerbated staffing issues.
Mayor John Tory noted earlier this week that a task force is looking at ways to modernize the service, which could include hiring civilians for more mundane tasks to free up officers (who are highly trained and paid more).
But in the Sherman case, he stressed: "Let's remember, this is a major crime or suspicious crime scene, and you have to protect the scene while there is an investigation going on."
Mr. Sherman founded Apotex Inc., a generic drug company that employs 11,000 people around the world. He was 75, and Ms. Sherman was 70. The couple gave tens of millions of dollars to charity.
The most recent update was in mid-December, when the deaths were revealed to have been caused by "ligature neck compression," or strangulation with a rope or cord.
Police have called the deaths suspicious and said the house showed no sign of forced entry – a statement that Brian Greenspan, a lawyer for the family, said could cause people to conclude incorrectly that a murder-suicide had taken place.
Mr. Greenspan – who declined to comment on Friday – has hired private investigators on the family's behalf to conduct an independent investigation – including a second autopsy.
Until police release the house, the family's investigators cannot begin their own examination of the scene.