Police Chief Bill Blair was told last year that some paid-duty police officers overstep their bounds, says a spokesman for Councillor Mike Del Grande.

Del Grande, a member of the Toronto Police Services Board, roused the indignation of the police union last week when he told the police board that several of his Scarborough constituents have complained about paid-duty officers demanding free tickets, and food, at community events.

In response, a surprised Blair announced he was launching an internal investigation into the “very, very serious allegations.”

Del Grande declined to be interviewed by the Star. Speaking on his behalf, criminal lawyer Howard Rubel said the councillor was only “reiterating concerns and providing information” he gave to Blair last year.

It was “information that he had received from citizens who approached him on a confidential basis,” Rubel said Thursday, adding Del Grande was not looking for “any action to be taken with regard to any individual incident.”

Rather, Del Grande wanted Blair to send a “loud and clear message” deterring paid-duty officers from bringing any form of pressure, subtle or otherwise, on citizens or community groups, Rubel said.

Police spokesman Mark Pugash said Del Grande went “much further” in public last week than he did when he raised the issue with Blair last year.

“Last year, he (Del Grande) talked about whether there was a need for paid duties, but when he stood up in the board meeting he made specific comments about police officers which, if proved, could constitute crimes,” Pugash said.

“I think the public would expect, in the face of allegations by a city councillor and member of the police services board, that the police would investigate.”

Rubel said he would not comment on the Toronto Police Association’s angry denunciation of Del Grande’s remarks, which the executive called “ill-informed and inflammatory.”

And he said Del Grande remains determined, as a member of a newly struck board subcommittee, to study paid duty and examine the criteria used by the police force when determining paid-duty policing requirements.

Del Grande wants to clarify when businesses and other private interests are required to hire paid-duty officers, when perhaps “they could hire their own security at a fraction of the cost,” Rubel said.

The councillor has blasted “exorbitant” paid-duty policing costs, saying off-duty officers are not even needed in many cases.

Del Grande, the city’s former budget chief, is not running for re-election this fall.

Many police services in Ontario operate a paid-duty system similar to Toronto. In his 2011 report, city auditor general Jeff Griffiths found Toronto’s yearly paid duty costs — $29 million in 2009 — were “disproportionately higher” than other cities’.

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Griffiths’ audit contained numerous recommendations, including one urging police to create a written guideline for determining the number of officers required for special events.

“Current police special events procedures do not provide any guideline on specific factors or criteria for determining the required number of police personnel at special events,” he wrote.