Torontonians weigh in on police reform amid further protests

Torontoniansweighedin on the final day ofpublic consultations about police reform in the city Thursday, while protesters took to the streets demanding that the force be defunded.

The Toronto Police Services Board's fourth and final meeting on "police accountability, reform and community safety priorities" began this morning, whiledozens of demonstrators gathered outsideof police headquarters.

Representatives from agroup called the No Pride in Policing Coalition (NPPC) who organized the protest, spokeoutside of the building to a large crowd.

The NPPCdescribes itself online asa group of queer and transgender people that was formed in 2018 to support demands that Black Lives Matter Toronto raised at the 2016 Pride Toronto parade.

"We have lots of reasons to be angry here today. We also have reasons to be hopeful," saidGary Kinsman, a member of the group.

"The proteststhat have happened around the world againstanti-black racism and against police violence and murder has given us hope that we can actually build a world without the police that is defined by justice and meeting people's needs."

In addition to protestors asking forToronto police to be defunded, the group madea list of demands, some of them include:

• Defundingthe RCMP
• Repealing criminal code sections allowing police to use deadly force
• Removing special constables and TTC fare inspectors
• Ending anti-trans violence
• Ending ineffective "pro-police" oversight

Other groups who attended the demonstration and spoke were representatives ofIndigenous Youth Camp, Black Lives Matter TO,Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,Doctors for Defunding the Police,Not Another Black Life andAI Rising.

The conversation around defunding police has been prominent in cities across North America in recent weeks, including Toronto.

In June Coun. Josh Matlow fileda motion thatcalled for a cut of atleast 10 per cent of the police budget for 2021and a reallocation ofthe savings towardcommunity services.

City council voted against a cut to the force's budget, but proposed a series of changes to policing including anti-racism measures and the implementation of body cameras.

But the NPPC says that doesn't go nearly far enough.

They advocate against body cameras for officers and are also calling for the force's budget to be cut by 50 per cent, with the money going toward community programs.

Police response topublic calls forchange

At a press conference in June, Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders was asked about growing calls for police to be removed from responding tomental health calls and the idea of defunding the police.

Saunders told reporters there area lot of conversations to be hadand legal hurdles to overcome before any changes are made.

"Right now, there are a lot of things that need to be done first in order to start reducing what our roles and responsibilitiesneed to be," Saunders said.

"I'd rather have the sit down and all educate ourselves a little more on what we do and what the public wants done."

He later noted that Toronto already has fewer police officers per 100,000 residents than many other large cities, includingMontreal, Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Chicagoand Houston.