Chief Myron Demkiw and a blast from the Plast

https://dianebederman.com/chief-myron-demkiw-and-a-blast-from-the-plast/

December 19, 2022, Ukrainian Canadian Myron Demkiw, a 30-year veteran of the Toronto Police Services, was sworn in as the chief of police in Toronto. Mr. Demkiw, who was born to Ukrainian parents and raised in Toronto, grew up as a proud member of his community and was an active member of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization in his youth. During the Second World War, Plast scouts were used as allies by Nazi Germany. After the war, the Plast organization was preserved among Ukrainian diaspora in Australia, Argentina, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.

Plast  is a Ukrainian youth organization for patriotic, inclusive self-development. Patriotic, because Plast nurtures a love of the Ukrainian community and fosters a willingness to work for its wellbeing. Plast members are effective citizens of countries in which they live. Inclusive – because Plast encourages its members to fulfill their potential, able to both act independently and to cooperate in a group and acquire leadership skills. In Canada, Plast established branches across the country. Today there are Plast centres in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, St.Catharines, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary. Plast in Canada aided in the development of the reborn organization in Ukraine, often with the support and sponsorship of Canadian government programs.

Mr. Demkiw is the top police official in a city of some 3 million people, heading the largest municipal police agency in Canada.  Under his command, he oversees 5,000 police officers and 2,000 civilian employees with a budget of 1.2 billion dollars. Mr. Demkiw studied law at the University of Toronto, later completed university courses in policing, management and psychology, and graduated from the Police Leadership Program at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He said:

“Although I have many priorities in my new role, my first is improving trust in our service and working with our communities to earn and maintain that trust. Secondly, under my leadership, we will accelerate police reform and the professionalization of the Service by continuing to collaborate with our communities to implement their recommendations and by exploring new opportunities to become the modern, community-centric Service our city deserves and expects. And, as my third priority, I will continue working with our members and residents, community organizations, government agencies and our partners in law enforcement to ensure that every resident in every neighbourhood is safe and thriving.”