Toronto police officers are facing criminal charges – again. It is the third major scandal involving the Toronto force in less than six months.

Four Toronto police officers are facing a total of 26 new charges related to allegations that officers were tipping off Toronto bars to pending busts and accepting payoffs, or benefits, to do so.

Police Chief Julian Fantino and the RCMP held a news conference Monday afternoon to announce the charges.

Julian Fantino

The officers charged include Bill McCormack Jr., the son of former Toronto police chief William McCormack. The others charged were Rick McIntosh – who recently stepped down temporarily as president of the Toronto Police Association – George Kouroudis and Jody Watson.

The charges include breach of trust by a public officer, fraud and influence peddling.

This is the second major corruption scandal to hit Toronto this year.

In January, six drug squad officers were arrested and charged with offences ranging from theft to assault.

Last week, in another unrelated case, four Toronto police officers were charged with a number of offences under the Ontario Police Services Act.

In spite of the number of scandals involving Toronto police, Fantino says he still believes the public supports the force.

"I believe ... that the people of Toronto are fair and they will judge us by how we have responded and how we continue to respond to these allegations," he said.