Ongoing Toronto police chief Mark Saunders says he has few regrets despite criticism during tenure
“When I graduated from my class, I was the only Black person in the class at that time, so that kind of speaks to what the ratio looked like,” he says. “At the start, there was some comments that were made my parents taught me that I should never be ashamed of who I am, so I would deal with it right then and there.”
Police racism and brutality against minorities have recently prompted protests and calls for defunding across North America after a Minneapolis police officer killed a Black man,Saunders is frank: Racism exists in the service as it does elsewhere in society, so it’s logical that undercurrents flow through the organization.
“It’s either robust training or it’s discipline,” Saunders says. “We’re out there doing absolutely everything we can.” Saunders, however, insists his door was always open. More recently, he took a very public knee during an anti-racism protest. He said it was the right thing to do and that he was “totally in alignment” with the demonstrators’ views.
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