Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino will tell police chiefs today that all police forces need to take seriously a pattern of hatred and harassment targeting journalists and other public figures.

Trudeau says that threats, especially against women and journalists experiencing racism, have a chilling effect on free press and democracy.

Mendicino's meeting with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police comes as a group representing journalists is calling on the police to do more amid what appears to be a targeted and coordinated campaign of threatening emails.

An open letter addressed to Trudeau, signed by dozens of media organizations, urges the police not to view individual complaints from journalists in isolation.

The letter, sent by the Canadian Association of Journalists, says that addressing each complaint individually could result in the police failing to make connections when threats use similar language, as is common in messages from local extremist groups.

Trudeau adds regarding this issue that Mendicino will emphasize that police forces must view the problem as a systemic one.