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Do Torontonians still love their police?
October 16, 2017

A recent Newstalk 1010 “Pulse of Toronto” survey presented the views of Torontonians on a variety of issues, including the Toronto Police Service (TPS). The TPS component indeed provided some concerning and surprising results to me.

The survey states that “6 in 10 (61%) Torontonians indicate they'd "be scared" if they were "pulled over by a police officer for no apparent reason”” and that “51% believe many/most/all Toronto police never really get punished for any wrongdoing they commit on or off the job.”


The survey also said that a concerning number of respondents feel the Toronto Police Association (TPA) cares more about its members than about citizens and policing and quoted several other disturbing perceptions among those surveyed about Chief Saunders’ effectiveness, police treatment of “black/dark-skinned” citizens, and other issues that demonstrate that public trust in police is waning.


Where is all of this coming from?


The TPS is a good police service. I truly believe it is one of the best of its size in North America. The vast majority of officers and staff are honest, hard-working and committed to public safety. Crime rates in Toronto (including homicides) are miniscule compared to similar sized cities in the U.S. That doesn’t mean they are totally without fault of course, no police service is.


Canadian policing is probably the most regulated and governed profession there is, and public oversight is extremely high – through legislation, boards, public complaints and use of force investigation bodies, as well as extensive media scrutiny. Occasionally bad things will occur unfortunately, but members will most often be held accountable through due process.


The past few years have seen public and Toronto Police Services Board concerns raised over street-checks (or “carding”); the criminal conviction of Constable Forcillo in the death of Sammy Yatim; a few high-profile incidents and trials around alleged police misconduct; as well as the well-publicized protest by the TPA over the TPS modernization initiative. Those few instances – in some cases totally unacceptable and in other cases where the validity of the criticism is debatable, should be far over shadowed by all the good things TPS members do to protect people and property, 24/7, year round. However, whether an allegation of wrongdoing by police ends up being substantiated or not, it can still become a public perception issue for community members. I get that.


We live in a society that is highly-impacted by a 24 hour real-time news cycle and inundated by social media reports that are often exaggerated or completely inaccurate. Unfortunately more people use the veil of anonymity social media provides to spread criticism and false allegations than do the majority of citizens that value their police service. At the same time, the U.S. has been plagued with wide-spread concern over police use of force and allegations of racialized policing, resulting in volatile anti-police protests and furthering police criticism. I’m convinced that this negative publicity south of the border has impacted the Toronto survey to some degree.


Chief Saunders is a good police chief. He came up through the ranks and was publicly endorsed by the TPA during the selection process. He is committed to the people of Toronto and to the members of the TPS, but at times has to make very difficult decisions that will not please everyone. I believe he makes those decisions in the best interests of community safety, closely followed by what is best for the employees of the TPS. The citizens of Toronto must come first – even before officer safety. If the officers came first, he wouldn’t allow them to leave their stations and risk their lives to protect the people of Toronto. But officer safety is a huge concern for him too. He has been there and has done that work himself.


The TPA leaders on the other hand, will never be re-elected if they voice a position that staffing cuts are acceptable. I’m sure they care about public safety as well, but let’s be honest – membership satisfaction and safety will always be their most critical concern.


Policing is an increasingly expensive business and very little structural and service-delivery change has occurred within the TPS for decades. Most Canadian police services have and are going through substantive change to be as effective and efficient as they can. TPS is not alone.


I don’t know if all the recommendations made in the TPS Modernization Project are valid or not, but Chief Saunders and his team believe them to be. I also don’t know if the TPA was properly consulted throughout the modernization process, but I can’t imagine in my wildest dreams that Chief Saunders would agree to a plan that unnecessarily places officers at even higher levels of risk than they would normally face. Right or wrong, this obvious divide between the TPS and TPA executives does nothing to maintain public confidence in its police service.


I’m not questioning the accuracy of the Newstalk 1010 survey, which was conducted by a reputable firm, but people are people and opinions change with the wind. We have all seen political surveys where nominees are shown to be highly favoured during election campaigns, only to suffer humiliating losses when the dust settles. That is simply human nature at work.


I think most Torontonians still love their police. Regardless, TPS and TPA obviously have some work to do to rebuild public trust to the levels they have enjoyed for many years. That critical trust is built one public interaction at a time and the ball is firmly in their court to fix it.

The worst boss: Nightmare for some, reality for many

By Chris Lewis • June 21, 2025
Image: new-manager-training.com Imagine this scenario if you will, getting the worst boss on earth – a person who is the total antithesis of leadership. Your new “Boss” replaces a leader that wasn’t always right and was getting too old to meet the mental and physical demands of the job, but at the same time treated all those around him with respect. He tried to select people for key positions based on their experience base and his confidence that they may not always agree but the individuals picked would be honest with him, other employees and the client base. He undoubtedly made mistakes here and there and did have some flaws but would readily admit to most of them. This boss comes back to the organization having committed a list of publicly confirmed misdeeds and illegal acts – many of which would have singularly been a good reason to not hire even the lowest level of employee, and justification for imprisonment for others. However, he was chosen for the top job despite all that baggage. Conversely, he brings not one redeeming quality to the top position. From day one, it’s obvious that the new Boss is truly a “boss” and not a “leader.” He has old personal scores to settle and wreaks revenge on many employees that he doesn’t like. Not because they were dishonest, incapable or lazy, but because he perceives that they didn’t want him to return or didn’t always agree with his philosophies and rash actions during past affiliations. This activity causes panic among all employees who know they have no choice but to get aboard his out-of-control train or perish beneath it. Then – without any deep evaluation or thought, he makes tremendous cuts to many organizational programs – leaving thousands without work and lacking any strategy to provide much needed services to a vast array of client groups. He viciously cuts through the organization like a chainsaw through softwood. Why? Because he can. Some of these decisions may have had some degree of validity following a proper assessment, while others not, but that analysis never occurred. Most previous positive relationships with partner agencies and the majority of client groups are immediately scuttled by the new boss. He publicly demeans and taunts longtime allies with irrational statements and outright falsehoods. Never in the many decades of history of the organization has such broad-ranging international indignation been felt, largely as a result of his childish behavior. Very few productive relationships remain and although some new ones are developed, they are only with organizations that are poorly considered by clients and upstanding industry players. His decisions continually fly in the face of the needs of the immense client group but more align with the personal business interests of only the Boss and his business associates – some of whom are either known despots or of questionable character. Company stocks continue to plummet as a result of his silliness. That also has a significant negative impact on the fiscal picture of partner organizations around the world. Anyone that respectfully expresses disagreement or suggests alternative decisions to the Boss, are sidelined or fired, then are ridiculed and until they become unemployable. Gas-lighting, exaggerations, denials, the passing of blame and blatant lies are his norm. He seldom speaks the truth about anyone or any situation. The sycophants he has positioned to assist in his destruction of the organization, publicly praise him for his leadership and courageous decision-making, when the majority of employees and clients know it is just flagrant butt-kissing on their part. He constantly seeks and demands praise, even for things he didn’t do, then sulks and whines when he doesn’t receive it. He falsely takes credit for the few good things that do happen but quickly passes blame when things that have his fingerprints all over them, go horribly wrong. His God-complex is resounding and worsens with each passing day. His public claims of success – before and since becoming the Boss, and assertions of being the “Greatest Boss in history”, fall flat with anyone that truly knows him. He aggressively takes advantage of anyone he can but then turns on them at the flip of a switch. No one is beyond being found at the pointy end of his meanness stick. When caught making an error, he’ll blame everyone on his “team” before accepting any criticism. In fact, he’d turn on his own children if he felt it would make him look brave or heroic, or if it would prevent him from public humiliation. He states his 24/7 lies over and over so often to make his base of lemming followers believe him, that he seemingly believes them to be factual himself. Even when he is confronted with witness testimony or audio/video of his brazen lies, he blames others for being out to get him. Being accountable when things go wrong and letting the light shine on others when they go well, is beyond his comprehension. (Can you spell “narcissistic”?) Although he doesn’t understand the business, he refuses to surround himself with people that do, given that he thinks he knows more than any of them and possibly more than anybody, anywhere, ever, since the dawn of time. Public statements he makes are often completely ridiculous and childish, causing all those around him to force plastic smiles, offer him undeserved praise and nod like pre-programmed bobbleheads. People and even affiliated organizations live in such fear of his thirst for retribution that they either cow-tow to his insanity or prepare for annihilation. He is an embarrassment internally and externally, on an international scale. No past executive has even been so blatantly self-centered, mean spirited and/or inept, nor have they ever had such a negative impact on the organization and its people. It may take decades to repair all the damage he has done. Thankfully, his employment contract is only for four years, so there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. Most of those within and those reliant on the organization, as well as friends, associates, allies internationally pray that this nightmare will end at that time. If it’s not too late, that is. Just a bad dream for some or a reality for millions of us?

What did the PM’s most recent announcement on border security really mean?

By Chris Lewis • February 4, 2025
Is there any meat to this or is it more of the same?

What police don’t need during a crisis

By Chris Lewis • January 4, 2025
Police know how to conduct major investigations and find bad guys. Although several specific factors change from case to case, their general investigative playbook remains the same. Once some ungodly multi-victim attack occurs, in very simplistic terms: the scene is protected, and the health of the living victims is looked after. Forensic experts begin processing the crime scene. Witnesses are located and interviewed. Physical evidence is gathered. Area and witness video recordings are collected and analyzed. Victims are identified. An off-site reunification centre is established where there are multiple victims. Next of kin notifications begin. At any point – if a suspect or suspects become known, their background is gathered, and the hunt begins. They need to be apprehended before anyone else is hurt. Area law enforcement officers need to know suspect details ASAP. “Motive” is at top of mind as investigators are synthesizing all this information, whether the suspect is identified or not. Of course, establishing motive often leads to identifying the suspect, but at other times identifying the suspect helps fill in the blanks on motive. What was the initial basis of what became a murder? Was it a robbery? Could it have been a street fight gone bad? Was it simply a want or need to kill someone specific or maybe anyone at all? That’s for investigators to sort out. There is an onus to warn the public or at least tell them something, i.e. “ongoing threat”, “stay indoors”, or “no threat to public safety”. There are reporting protocols to follow. Senior officers need to be advised up the food chain as do their political masters, so everyone knows what is happening. None of that should detract investigators from doing what they do best – catching killers. But that’s when the ravenous “thirst for knowledge” and political grandstanding often take over and completely interfere with police work. The only knowledge the investigators are thirsty for in those early hours is evidence and then identifying, locating and capturing bad people. They do not need politics monopolizing their time or efforts. The New Years Day massacre in New Orleans was big. Fourteen innocent party goers were killed and dozens injured. The world wanted to know what happened and the community wanted to know if they were in danger. I absolutely get that. However, what sometimes comes with such tragedies is everyone wanting to know everything. We see it in most mass murder cases, but this was an exceptional example of the insanity surrounding such a high-profile incident. Whatever blanks weren’t immediately filled in by police officials and verified mainstream media reports, were filled in by social media. In such cases police totally lose control of the narrative as rumours, theories, falsities, conspiracy theories and “hey look at me” games take over. The political party and individual positioning in this case was nauseating. In any multi-agency response, having the leaders of those agencies at press conferences in a united front makes sense. The public needs to have confidence that the situation is in the best of hands. But where did these massive press conferences where police officials are flanked by numerous politicians come from? I can see some elected leaders being present when a new program is launched or government funding is being announced, but it should never be in the early hours of a mass murder. Having a bunch of partisan wonks peacocking on stage and in follow-up interviews, helps no one at the operational level. As some of them were speaking, I was responding to their dumb questions in my mind: Was it a terror attack? Maybe, but let the experts figure that out. In the meantime, it’s a mass murder. Was the killer an illegal immigrant? Let’s worry about that when the dust settles. What political party is to blame for allowing him into the country? We don’t care. Maybe he was born here. Let’s sort that out if he turns out to be an illegal immigrant. Why wasn’t the area more secure? Good question for a future debrief. We need to get the FBI and HSI leaders before a government committee right away so we can find out who failed! Shut up. We have police work to do. There are always enough social media theories, private citizens’ investigations into suspects, outright lies and misinformation being spread to the public, without silly partisan games sidetracking investigators who are fighting to stay ahead of legitimate theories and tips. In the early hours of a mass murder case investigators are probably the busiest they have ever been, and don’t need any of this interference. Controlling the social media fever is next to impossible. It would take a sudden level of maturity across the populace that may be unattainable. But politicians at all levels need to get the message that they are not welcome on stage at operational press conferences and their comments to the media – if asked for them – aside from expressing sadness, thoughts, prayers and confidence in the police, should be “Our law enforcement agencies are investigating, and we need to let them do what they do.” Adding any theories, raising questions or passing blame is totally wrong. If elected officials truly care about their electorate and feel the need to say more, they should have some prior dialogue with the police leaders or their Public Information Officers to ensure that what they say is helpful as opposed to harmful. Otherwise, be quiet.