May 19, 2015 by admin

Saunders officially takes on Toronto police chief title Wednesday

Toronto, Mark Saunders will officially become Toronto’s 20th chief of police Wednesday morning when he is sworn in to the position during a formal ceremony.
The Toronto Police Services Board will host the ceremony in the foyer of the Toronto Police headquarters building on College Street at 11 a.m.
Saunders has spent 32 years in the Toronto Police Service, working in the street gang unit, drug squad, intelligence division, and the emergency task force. He also led Toronto’s homicide unit which is the largest in Canada.
As chief, he’ll be tasked with managing the rising costs of policing and managing the impact of “carding” a controversial practice where individuals are stopped and questioned despite not having been suspected of committing a crime.
Saunders has told the public he supports carding so long as it does not target individuals randomly, and that abolishing it would increase crime.