The majority of Toronto Police Association members who responded to an online vote have indicated that they have ‘no confidence’ in Chief Mark Saunders but the board who control the chief’s fate say they continue to “fully and unequivocally” support him.
About 86 per cent of the respondents to the vote said that they have “no confidence’ in Saunders while 14 per cent said that they do have confidence in Saunders.
A total of 48.1 per cent of the union’s membership participated in the vote, which was conducted over the last week.
“The board fully and unequivocally supports Chief Saunders. The board stands behind Chief Saunders,” members of the Toronto Police Services Board said in a joint statement released minutes after the results of the vote were publicized. “The board will continue to work with Chief Saunders to ensure that the Toronto Police Service is, and continues to be, an organization of excellence, and an organization committed to positive change and growth.”
Vote comes amid dispute over modernization
The vote of non-confidence comes amid a protracted battle between the TPA, Saunders and the police services board over the long-term transformational task force plan, which calls for the overall size of the service to shrink by as many as 250 officers by the end of 2019
In a memo sent to members last week, the union cited Saunders’ “ineffective leadership, lack of communication skills and failure to take responsibility” as reasons for holding the vote.
The vote is largely symbolic as Saunders can only be removed from his job by the Toronto Police Services board.
Speaking with CP24 on Thursday afternoon, Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack said that the vote is “not at all” about forcing Saunders out and is more of a call to action for the chief.
“The end game is to fix the issues,” he said. “Does the chief choose to address this or does he continue to dismiss it? The ball is in his court.”
Speaking at the end of Thursday’s police services board meeting, Chief Saunders said he has been listening to the concerns of frontline officers and insisted things on the ground are changing.
“Are there some issues that need to be addressed in terms of communications and understanding, yes, and we’ve covered that.” Saunders told reporters.
“We did a complete dialogue with every station and every unit that was within our organization, it’s a misnomer that I’m not listening, I am listening loud and clear.”
He blamed the rumblings this year by the union on the fact that the service has shrunk due to attrition, but said that things would change as the force’s modernization plan is implemented this year.
“I think that we’re all moving in the right direction, are there some communication breakdowns and misunderstandings that need to be identified, absolutely and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The transformational task force plan calls for a “culture change,” within the TPS, which would make neighbourhood policing a top priority and place an increased emphasis on technology. The TPA, however, has said that the plan has resulted in a reduction of front-line officers that has caused morale to plummet to an "all-time low."'
“This is not a complaint about doing the job. They (police) are complaining and saying that ‘We can’t give you the public the service that you deserve.’ We are putting public safety at risk, we are putting officer safety at risk," McCormack said. "They have a right to be frustrated and they have a right to be heard."
In its statement, the board said that it has “invited the TPS” to the table as it works to modernize the police service but has found that its leadership “strongly prefers the status quo”
The board says that the “committed participation” of the union in discussions around modernization would be a “a more constructive approach to ensure consideration of the concerns of police officers.”
McCormack, however, said that police leadership has ignored concerns from front-line officers, forcing the union’s hands.
“We have been in a dialogue with the chief, with the mayor, with the chair of the police services board to try to fix this for so long,” he said. “It is unfortunate that we had to take these measures to get the attention to fix it.”
The TPA represents approximately 8,000 uniformed and civilian members of the Toronto Police Service. It does not represent officers above the rank of staff sergeant.
