With less than eight months on the job, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders has faced a dramatic spike in the city’s crime rates and heated debate over the practice of random street checks, or “carding.”
Saunders addressed both in a year-end interview with CTV’s Tamara Cherry.
Here are five takeaways from the chief’s look back at policing in 2015.
“Carding”
Since 2012, the police practice of randomly stopping people on the street has come under fire amid allegations of racial profiling.
But Saunders said that, after an overhaul of “antiquated” carding protocol in 2012, these street checks became a valuable policing tool in the city. Carding, he said, allowed officers to gather “a tremendous amount of intelligence,” especially when it comes to gang activity.
Under the 2014 policy, officers are required to issue receipts to individuals who are carded. Police officers are also required to inform the public that they aren't legally obligated to stop and talk.
According to the Police Record Checks Reform Act, passed unanimously by the province earlier this month, ‘carding’ records can no longer be disclosed in police background checks in Ontario.
The province is currently in the process of coming up with new regulations surrounding street checks.
Saunders said that if the province decides to ban carding, Toronto police will figure out a new way to effectively do their jobs.
“We’ve got a responsibility to keep the city safe,” he said. “If we have to reinvent the play book then we’ll reinvent the playbook.”
Spike in crime rates
Police statistics show a dramatic increase in violent crime in the city over the last year, particularly when it comes to the 243 shootings so far in 2015 -- already a 42 per cent increase from last year.
The 152 shootings involving injury or death are up more than 60 per cent from last year. Shootings during which no one was injured are up more than 77 per cent.
“The shooting occurrences disturb me,” said Saunders, adding that the police force is working to uncover the causes of the spike in violence.
“We need to go back and we need to fix the playbook,” he said. “We will resolve the problem.”
Despite these increases, the number of homicides is comparable to this time last year.
Remodelling the system
Saunders said that the city can expect to see a dramatically different police force in the next five years.
“First and foremost, we have to look at how the city itself has changed and we have to look at how crime has changed,” Saunders said, adding that cyber-crime and Toronto’s rapid population growth both call for a change in how police operate in the city.
“We have to look at our model and we have to ask: what are we doing, why are we doing what we’re doing and how can we be more effective with what we’re doing?” Saunders said.
One of the things police will focus on is how to prioritize calls.
In 2015, police responded to approximately two million calls. Saunders said many of those did not require a police presence, while other would have benefited from having more officers on scene.
Saunders said a designated task force is researching the issue, but he wouldn’t introduce “change just for the sake of change.”
“Change has to be effective, it has to have sustainability to it,” he said. “Most importantly, it has to keep the community safe.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory says he is planning to meet with all relevant parties to discuss how police resources can be best allocated.
Billion-dollar budget
For the first time ever, Toronto’s police budget exceeded $1 billion in 2015. Many have cited that as an example of the police force’s ineffective use of money, given the spike in crime rates.
While the 2016 budget will be similar, Saunders said the Toronto police will focus on “trying to justify our actions and why it’s costing us what it’s costing us.”
“Ninety per cent of the budget is salary—it’s people,” he said. “That other 10 per cent we’ve already scrutinized to death.”
The streamlining of other processes, he said, will help the police force cut costs.
Responding to people in crisis
In 2015, Toronto police also came under fire for its use of force, especially during the trial of Const. James Forcillo, who fatally shot 18-year-old Sammy Yatim during an armed encounter on an empty TTC streetcar. Forcillo has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and attempted murder in Yatim's July 2013 death.
Saunders said such incidents have led to an emphasis on “de-escalation tactics” in police training.
“We have to look at policing and our roles in the community not from yesterday, but today,” Saunders said, adding that de-escalation should be “a primary option” for officers who are dealing with someone in distress like Yatim.
The police force is developing a bean bag round that officers can carry as a non-lethal alternative “designed to work with people in crisis.” Only police sergeants currently carry Tasers.
“I need more less lethal equipment that will have a better opportunity to keep the officers safe, to control the environment, and then to enter into the de-escalation tactic,” Saunders said.
‘Great feedback’
Despite the challenges facing the Toronto police, Saunders said his first year on the job has been a positive experience.
“I’ve had great, great feedback from the public,” he said. “It’s been a very interesting year and I look forward to 2016.
“There are going to be some huge challenges, but I really do look forward to it.”
