Some Toronto police have been scummy for decades

And here you thought Toronto police misdeeds were a modern phenomenon.

Don't think it as corruption, think of it more as Tradition.

Secret recordings obtained by CBC News offer proof that Toronto police conducted illegal eavesdropping on a former police board chair.

There have been allegations for years that police began spying on their civilian boss, Susan Eng, beginning in May 1991, days after she was sworn in.

Then police chief Bill McCormack and Julian Fantino — superintendent of detectives at the time and later police chief and OPP commissioner — have repeatedly refused to say whether they requested or were aware of the surveillance.

But now CBC News has obtained the tape recordings of Eng talking to her confidant and friend, Peter Maloney, about everything from police business to the very personal.

At the time, police had gone to a judge claiming Maloney may have ties to drug dealers.

The judge granted officers authority to wiretap his phone, but they were ordered to shut down the wiretap after a minute if the calls involved anyone, such as Eng, not listed on the paperwork.

Police ignored the order and recorded Eng, with some recordings lasting 20 or 30 minutes.

Read more here.