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Toronto's Top Cops
Sleep, Talk or Text Message
during Street Health Presentation

Ignoring the Street Health Report to the Toronto Police Services Board

Police Violence

12% of all survey respondents reported being physically assaulted by the police in the past year.

That's what Street Health discovered in a 2007 survey of Toronto's homeless community. Laura Cowan, Executive Director, Street Health presented their findings, contained in The Street Health Report 2007 to the February 21st Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB) meeting held at City Hall.

What about hunger, poverty and a daily struggle for life could possibly be amusing? It's bad enough that a presentation to the TPSB doesn't even merit the attention of the uniformed officers pictured above. The three in the front row were addicted to their Blackberrys. The two Chatty Cathys, in the back row, found some reason to laugh while Street Health discussed their disturbing findings. One officer appeared to sleep during the presentation. Is this Toronto's finest?

It's appalling that two top cops either couldn't be bothered to listen and found the hardships of the homeless a matter for amusement. Laughing and joking during the presentation was inappropriate on all levels. What's truly sad is one of these two is the cop assigned to liaise with Street Health. This is the best the cops' brass & board could do - a cop that finds the homeless and their daily struggles for survival cause for levity?

Just prior to the Street Health presentation two members of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario spoke to the TPSB. Board Member Hamlin Grange's first response to the serious issues Street Health raised: suggesting Street Health work with the Schizophrenia Society. Street Health pointed out only 5% of those surveyed suffered from schizophrenia but that didn't stop Grange at all. The issue wasn't Schizophrenia it was police violence against the Homeless.

12% of the Homeless report physical assaults from the police and Hamlin Grange's first act is to change the topic!

The board openly wondered why the homeless don't report these assaults. This isn't the first time this issue has been raised.

15 Years of Police Violence

"The 1992 Street Health Report noted that police-inflicted injuries had been seen at Street Health nursing clinics for many years. The 1992 survey found that 10% of their sample had been assaulted by the police in the past year. A study conducted in 2001 found that 9% of homeless single adults and youths in Toronto reported an assault by a police officer in the past year."

Board member Hugh Locke demonstrated what the homeless might face if they did report violence from the police to the police, asking Street Health, "when the person who was questioned, the homeless person, were the 12% that said yes to assault, by the police, was there any question put to that person: 'under what circumstances were you assaulted by the police?' so that the assault could have occurred just by the gratuitous perpetration of violence by the police officer? Or could it have been an assault, or they claimed to be assaulted in the course of an arrest or in the course of a criminal offense? Any of those questions ever put?"

Center: Hugh Locke, Toronto Police Services Board Member

Sounds like it's an attempt to blame the homeless. Starving, freezing not enough problems for the homeless to endure?

Some of the board were put out that the word 'alleged' didn't appear in the report. Thinking what's good for the goose The Toronto Tribune checked a few police press releases. The puppy patrol put out a press release, so did the fraud squad. Go ahead search for the word 'alleged' and you won't find it. Here's a press release on assault and one on homicide. Still missing the word that was a major focus for the Police Services Board. Given it's so important to the board that officers not be accused should the same not apply to those accused but not convicted of crimes? Why are the homeless held to a higher standard by the TPSB than they place upon themselves?

We have reported here of some surprising experiences we've had dealing with the Toronto Police. We have never named the officers involved in issues we raised ignoring violence against women, pushing the disabled or harassing the media.  How can they be held accountable when the top brass and their oversight board fail to set a good example.

Laura Cowan, Executive Director, Street Health talked about her presentation to the Toronto Police Services Board, "I felt that our findings were dismissed, quite strongly by most of the board members. The fact that they insisted on saying that this was alleged police violence was a little bit disconcerting. We do believe what people tell us when we survey them. We don't think that people had any reason to lie to us. There wasn't a hidden agenda. This wasn't a report just about police violence where we were hoping to expose the police services. It was nothing like that. This was one of our questions, 'have you ever been assaulted, and by who'. People were just forthcoming with the information that they had been assaulted at some point. We took it at face value. I was a bit taken aback by how it was rejected pretty much out right by the board members. I was surprised and disappointed. I was also disappointed that there wasn't any response to any of the boards' questions or very little response from the Police Services side of the table at all. It seemed to be really such. One of the police officers was sleeping during our presentation. It was disappointing but maybe not totally unexpected.".

Alok Mukherjee's Ostrich Impression

It is The Toronto Tribune's experience that head in the sand is Alok Mukherjee's response when Police misconduct is directly brought to his attention

For some unknown reason the cops were out in force at City Hall on February 21st prior to the Street Health presentation to the TPSB. As this reporter arrived on the scene outside City Hall two bicycle cops decided to have a game of ring around the rosy, biking in circles around a large snow pile located near the Henry Moore sculpture at the main public entrance to City Hall. Doesn't bode well to hand these two bike cops Tasers when they can't be bothered to take proper care of their bicycles.

Toronto Police Service Board Chair Alok Mukherjee was asked about this immediately following a special TPSB meeting. This was the money meeting where Police Chief Bill Blair asked the TPSB to approve the 2008 cops' budget. Mukherjee was told that The Toronto Tribune "noticed bike officers chasing one another, circling a large snow pile right outside City Hall. They are misusing equipment, treating them like toys, and you're being asked for to approve a $800+ million budget for the Police."

Alok Mukherjee replied, "I don't think they used the bikes as toys. Certainly I haven't seen any cars, motorcycles used in that way or other equipment used in that way. Sometimes they do practice using their equipment in different ways like when they do the motorcycle shows when they demonstrate their skills on it. So I wouldn't be too concerned that our officers are doing fun things on them. Since I wasn't there it is unfair to speculate, but were they doing it in public?"

The Toronto Tribune reiterated it was at City Hall, next to the Henry Moore sculpture on a day when top police brass and the Police Services Board met. You can't get much more public than City Hall.

The cops were likely on guard duty and clearly unnecessary given they were so bored they acted like children. Mukherjeee replied, "I don't know if they were trying to be funny with the public." Nope, Alok it was with one another, "with one another? I haven't seen that anywhere else."

Is this the criteria for police misconduct to be addressed : Alok Mukherjee must personally witness it? That explains everything.

Mukherjee added, "We emphasize in our training safe use of equipment, that is a big part of the training." Training apparently lost on a few cops guarding Police Brass at City Hall.

Last month we reported on the abysmal conduct of Toronto's Police Services Board, they are the quasi-independent overview for Toronto's cops. This group organized a public forum regarding Tasers and forgot how to listen once the public had their turn to speak. That was after the presentation for the Halliburton-style no-bid contract. With a few exceptions the majority of the board didn't listen to a word from the public. Apparently they learned their lesson or read our article.  This time we watched the performance at the top brass along with the Board. The brass were just as bad at demonstrating indifference to the speakers and the serious issues they raised.