Chief Mark Saunders promises to modernize Toronto police force

Toronto Police Services will meet with residents over the next three months about a "transformational" report that calls for a hiring freeze and a chance to modernize the force, Police Chief Mark Saunders said Monday.

• 'It has to be done': Mayor Tory says police task force overhaul non-negotiable

In speaking on CBC's Metro Morning Monday, Saunders and police board chairman Andy Pringle promised that there would be safeguards in place to make sure that the 24 recommendations suggested by the task force would come to fruition.

Mayor John Tory has already come out in support of those recommendations, which include $100 million in reductions to Toronto Police Service's operating budget over the next three years. Roughly $60 million of that would actually come from a hiring freeze and a moratorium on promotions between officers' ranks.

Fewer officers

The report suggests that could result in 350 fewer officers by next year.

Tory also echoed the report's call to modernize the police force, particularly the targeted anti-violence strategy unit, which has been the target of scorching criticism by Black Lives Matter and other racialized groups.

The unit had "unintended impacts in communities, especially amongracializedyouth who felt unfairly targeted, which in turn impacted trust and confidence" in police, the report says.

Saunders said that he believed his officers support the idea of modernizing the force.

"If it's smart, the buy-in is easy and this is a very smart report," Saunders said.

And Saunders said he believes that both municipal politicians and the police board now have a better relationship with the police, which will push all parties to adopt the final report when it's presented in January.

When asked about Tory's comment on Metro Morning last week about past tension between police and municipal politicians, Saunders responded that's not an issue now.

"We're in an exciting time right now, because we're aligned very well with the city," he said.

Embedded in the community

But after the criticism levelled at the police force by certain marginalized communities, Saunders said it's essential that those communities have "a strong and equal investment" in the development of the TPS. There will be meetings and other consultations before the final draft of the force's new blueprint gets created, Pringle said.

What it should include will be more embedded officers within communities so that the police can develop long-term connections in those areas that have not had historic good relationships with the force, added Pringle.

That model of policing will inform the way future recruits are trained, the board chairman said, so that "it'll be instilled in the training and work its way up.

"The vast majority have recognized that the times are changing and that we need to police in a way that's more community centric."

The recommendations come out of the task force createdby Tory earlier this year,made up of six officers and six members of the public.

After more public consultation, a final report will be published in December and go to the police board for a vote in the New Year.