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Toronto:- Approval for Toronto’s top cop has soared in recent months, according to a new poll.
The Forum Research poll found 68 per cent of respondents approve of the job Chief Mark Saunders is doing – up from 48 per cent in May.
The poll found that approval of Saunders was highest in East York, Scarborough and Etobicoke, and lowest in the downtown core.
“Chief Saunders is doing something right in the face of mounting challenges, as his approval rating has literally leaped 20 points in three months,” Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said in a news release.
Perhaps surprising, Saunders’ bolstered approval comes as more city residents indicted they felt less safe.
According to the poll, 24 per cent of respondents feel their personal safety is at risk in Toronto, up from 21 per cent in April 2015. Two-thirds of respondents, however, said they do not feel their personal safety is at risk in the city.
Half of respondents said they feel violent crime is increasing in the city.
According to police statistics to July 31, the number of murders has climbed 43 per cent this year versus 2015, the number of assaults is up five per cent, and the number of robberies is up 11 per cent. The number of sexual assaults reported to police this year has dropped nine per cent as compared to 2015.
The poll also asked participants if they felt the increase in gun violence was tied to the provincial ban on carding, with 26 per cent of respondents indicating they believed there was a correlation. Forty-three per cent of respondents said they felt the ban on carding was not to blame.
The poll also found 17 per cent of respondents have been the victim of a violent crime such as a robbery, armed robbery or an assault.
The poll was conducted between Aug. 8 and Aug. 10 and reached 864 Toronto adults using robocalls. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus three per cent, 19 times out of 20.
