July 11, 2020
4 high ranking Toronto-area Police officials have announced their resignations in 31 days. This comes after the alleged murder of Regis Paquet and the public relations crisis it created. Regis’ mother and cousin claimed that the police pushed her off her balcony, causing her death. This set off a wave of anti-police sentiment and exacerbated existing tensions with Toronto’s black community.
Mark Saunders announced his resignation on June 8, 2020. This was shortly after massive protests erupted Canada-wide over the alleged murder of Regis Paquet.
Andre Crawford - Deputy chief of the York Regional Police - announced his resignation on July 6, 2020.
Mike McCormack - President of Toronto Police Association - announced his resignation July 7, 2020, only day after Andre Crawford. McCormack became infamous after publicly defending James Forcillo, the on-duty officer convicted for shooting Sammy Yatim 8 times on a streetcar.
Paul Martin of the Durham Regional Police Service resigned on July 9, 2020. Martin is currently in the midst of a corruption investigation. Ontario’s police watchdog launched an investigation in 2019, based on “credible information”, that the police chief may have committed criminal offences. In response, Martin tried to pass off blame to other officers with his departing message,
Bad behaviour and mistakes cause serious damage, and the price is paid not only by the citizens who may have been hurt, but by every brother and sister in service. There has not been a more difficult time to be a police officer in the community in my lifetime.
Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/07/09/durham-police-chief-under-investigation-for-alleged-corruption-and-abuse-of-power-is-retiring.html
It appears that all 4 of them were scared at the blowback from the alleged murder of Regis Paquet, and wanted to get out before they were thrown out.
It also possible that these officials were involved in even more corruption than suspected, and are afraid of facing consequences for their misdeeds.
Many Torontonians are suspicious of the sudden department of these 4 high ranking officials.
It will be interesting to see who else quits in the upcoming future and whether their respective replacements do any better.
Article by: Mark Slapinski
What do you think? Take the survey or let me know on Twitter!