After a decade of service, Alok Mukherjee announced he will step down as Toronto Police Services Board chair on Aug. 1.
The chair made the announcement Thursday at a board meeting at Toronto Police headquarters, saying he felt he had "accomplished much" in the role.
"I believe that the board will benefit from new leadership," Mukherjee said at a board meeting on Thursday.
"It has been a privilege and an honour to serve as chair of this board."
Mukherjee has led the board since July 2005.
In January, Mukherjee announced it would be his last year in the leadership role, but he didn't specify which day would be his last. On Thursday, he told members of the board his last working day will be July 31.
"The time has come to move on," he said.
"There are other projects that I've shelved in order to dedicate my full time and attention to the task of chairing this board. It is time to turn my attention to those unfinished or pending projects."
Following Mukherjee's announcement, the board turned to a motion from the mayor calling for the cancellation of a controversial "carding" policy approved by police last month.
"Carding" refers to when police officers stop and question people on the street, collecting information without making an arrest. The practice has been debated for years, with critics saying that studies show young black men are disproportionately stopped by police.
Toronto Mayor John Tory released a copy of his motion on Wednesday suggesting the board put an end to carding or come up with new regulations on community engagement. His motion also asked Police Chief Mark Saunders to provide the police board with information about the legal implications of purging historical information collected from carding. Saunders has said previously he is not in favour of abolishing the practice, but added that he wants to eliminate the idea of "random" police stops.
During the meeting, Tory amended his motion to state that the 2015 policy be rescinded and the 2014 policy be reinstated until the province can issue new, standardized guidelines in the fall. The 2014 policy states that citizens who are carded must be told of their rights up front, and be provided with a receipt of the encounter.
Earlier this month, Mukherjee said he'd had a change of heart when it came to the practice. He said carding put the city "at risk of becoming a surveillance society."
Mukherjee, who had previously supported the practice, advised that Toronto police "stop gathering information about innocent people."
Though a new set of guidelines on carding was approved by Toronto police in April, the practice has been suspended indefinitely since Jan. 1.
