Ibrahim Alheyali | Contributor
Featured photo: Policing is a persistent concern in the Jane-Finch community. | Amir Yazdanparast
In a bid to modernize and engage with communities, Toronto Police Service, or TPS, has launched a new program to involve the public in internal TPS matters. To this end, a consultation in the Jane-Finch area was held by TPS at the Driftwood Community Recreation Centre earlier this month, the sixth such session as part of the force’s modernization program.
Justice Michael Tulloch led the first session of the so-called “oversight review panels” initiative, a series of 18 meetings scheduled across Ontario, with each meeting consisting of an hour-long discussion with community members.
Suggestions are to be presented to Justice Tulloch, culminating in a report presented to the attorney general in March 2017.
Some are unconvinced the police can change. “I myself stand as an anti-police person. Seeing unjust police brutality against visible minorities, especially in Toronto, is sickening,” says third-year accounting student Mert Beloglu.
“TPS claims, without any evidence, that [the] Jane and Finch area in particular is a troubled community and approaches the community’s problems with violence,” says Beloglu.
While the public may have its doubts regarding the success of the new initiative, certain authorities have been very optimistic. “You have Black Lives Matter, you’ve got a public that’s very cynical of the police,” says former Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin. “It’s really a perfect storm for reform and I’ve got my hopes up very high.”
TPS is no stranger to a suspicious public. In July 2015, a police officer responded to a call on the third floor of an apartment on Gilbert Avenue where he instructed Andrew Loku, 45, to drop the hammer he was wielding. Shortly after, a second officer arrived and fatally shot Loku. According to a neighbour, the entire incident lasted only a few minutes. Loku’s death drew wide criticism of how TPS handled the situation.
Another difficult incident for TPS in recent memory was the shooting of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim in 2013. Yatim was shot nine times after he brandished a knife on a Toronto streetcar. Earlier this year, Constable James Forcillo was sentenced to six years after he was found guilty of attempted murder. Forcillo is appealing the sentence and ruling.
