Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair has deflected all questions about Mayor Rob Ford and the alleged crack video by saying it’s his duty to protect the evidence in the Project Traveller gang investigation — and not disclose anything until it goes to court.

If media reports are true and Project Traveller wiretaps caught people discussing a video of Ford smoking crack, or if police have recovered the alleged video in their investigation, that evidence will only come out in court if it is relevant to the prosecution, lawyers say.

Wiretaps are particularly useful and relevant in proving a “participating in the activities of a criminal organization” charge, says defence lawyer Craig Bottomley.

“They often contain devastating evidence,” he said.

Most of the alleged Dixon City Bloods are facing one or more criminal organization charges. Some defendants are charged with trafficking cocaine on behalf of their gang, while others are charged in connection with numerous parts of the criminal organization — trafficking guns, coke, heroin and/or marijuana.

The Venn Diagram above is a representation of the criminal organization charges laid in the Project Traveller investigation.

Police investigated the Dixon City Bloods, which they allege is based in Toronto’s Little Mogadishu on Dixon Road. The people in the diagram are all charged with “participation in activities of a criminal organization.” Each circle represents a different criminal activity they are alleged to be involved in.

Some are facing more than one criminal organization charge and appear in more than one circle. They have not been convicted. At the request of the Toronto police, Metro has withheld publishing the names of five of the people included in these criminal organization charges who have not yet been publicly identified.

A criminal organization is the “gold prize for police,” Bottomley said. The charge carries up to five years on top of any other criminal charges.

In order to prove a criminal investigation charge, the Crown must prove the size and purpose of the criminal organization — in this case the Dixon City Bloods — and must show the alleged activities were committed for the benefit of the criminal organization.

Bottomley successfully defended the president of the Toronto chapter of the Hells Angels, John Neal, on a criminal organization charge. He’d argued that the organization didn’t have a criminal purpose, just some members who were criminals.

Bottomley said he’s not sure if a Ford video would be relevant or not, but noted the defence lawyers and their client will get a disclosure of the evidence before it gets to court.

And in a straightforward guns and gangs case, there is no reason why they couldn’t release Ford-related evidence publicly, if they chose to, Bottomley said.

“It may very well come out if there’s a trial,” said Windsor lawyer Frank Miller, who has represented some of the Project Traveller defendants in the past, including Abdulkadir Mohamud.