I’m no cop apologist, but its been disappointing to watch so-called policing reform types lose it over the show of force surrounding the funeral of Ryan Russell, the Toronto cop killed January 12 in an incident involving a stolen snowplow.
Many are understandably still smarting from the G20 debacle. But let’s not get hysterical. It’s knee-jerk to say Russell’s too public funeral was all a PR exercise orchestrated to rehab a force’s tarnished image. It’s inevitable that politics should form the backdrop of any cops death.
But I doubt Russell’s family wanted to make a show of his death. They agreed to a public funeral (maybe too public) partly out of a sense of duty to the force (Russell’s father was a cop), and partly to acknowledge the public outpouring that followed Russell’s death.
TV coverage of the ceremony, for all its pomp, was thankfully not entirely milked for maximum dramatic effect. Shots of the family were few and far between. I’d like to think that had something to do with the family’s wishes not to turn the somber occasion into a circus.
But there are still those on the left who want to ascribe an ulterior motive for the ceremony, and by extension, lay blame for all that’s perceived to be wrong with the current state of policing on the doorstep of police chief Bill Blair. A word of advice: get off it.
You’re not helping the cause of policing reform by joining the angry ranks of right wing nutbars who all of a sudden think we have too many cops and want to cut the shit out of the police budget.
I won’t mention names, but the perturbed are working from a decade-old context when it comes to policing in this city.
If they think Blair’s bad, they may want to consider what a replacement handpicked by Mayor Rob Ford, who’ll soon have control of four of the seven votes on the police services board, will look like. Think Julian Fantino with horns.
The fact is, the Toronto force is one of the most progressive in the country.
The cop shop is not an old boys club anymore, thanks to significant strides in minority recruitment and community policing.
Before Blair came along police accountability rated low on the priority list. Cops didn’t wear name tags. There were no cameras in cruisers. There was little accounting for how cop dollars were being spent. The police budget was presented to the board on three sheets of paper.
There was little rhyme or reason as to how cops were being deployed or scheduled to ensure maximum bang for the taxpayers’ buck. The sight of cops patrolling on bikes was rare. The TPS was very much stuck in the past.
Not any more. There has been a turnaround. For that we can credit the fact we had a mayor for the past seven years (and a Police Services Board), who understood the value of a proactive policing.
Just as importantly, we also had a chief who was willing to implement a forward-looking agenda and who saw the wisdom of modernizing a police service that acted more like paramilitary organization. Like chief’s past, Blair could have decided not to play along and fight his political masters and where would that have gotten us?
Crime rates are the lowest they’ve ever been. That didn’t happen by accident, and is a remarkable achievement, really, given the fact we’ve been mired in a deep recession, when crime usually goes way up.
As for the G20, you won’t get excuses from me on the conduct of cops. But Blair’s role in that disgraceful mess is not clear.
The Police Service’s Board’s review into summit policing, expected in the coming weeks, may show that Blair wasn’t calling the shots at all.
One story making the rounds is that a member of the police services board made a surprise visit to the G20 command centre soon after the shit hit the fan on the streets to check on things, and where was the chief? Let’s just say not at the helm, but rather watching G20 events unfold on CP24, like many other Torontonians.
Blair has maintained he was in charge during the G20, but what else could he say? That the RCMP and OPP came to his town and took over? For all we know, some of his cops went rogue on him. But that’s another story.
When it comes to the oversight of international events like the G20, local police and the boards that oversee them, have no authority.
The scenario at the command centre would better explain Blair’s post-summit meltdown – the excuses for the actions of some of his cops, lies to protect others (see the case of Adam Nobody). Who could forget the surreal press conference where “weapons” seized from protestors, which weren’t weapons at all, were put on display to justify police madness?
It was completely out of character for Blair. I think he was embarrassed, and forced into backfill mode to try and make it look like he wasn’t completely out of the loop. Time will tell.
Change doesn’t come to police organizations by hatchet, axe and saw. A more surgical approach is required. There’s always the tricky business of keeping labour peace with the police union to consider. Otherwise, it’s doubtful the rank and file would be willing to carry out any part of Blair’s agenda.
The chief has a fine balancing act to perform. For those calling for heads to roll because of the G20, it’s naive to think Blair, or any chief, can impose their will on the troops and not risk a serious backlash or morale problem. We have seen the consequences of that approach manifest itself in higher absenteeism rates and a Fuck It, Drive On, attitude among frontline officers.
Hopefully, we’re too far down the road to turn the clock back completely on the accomplishments of the last seven years.
But with Ford now in control, who knows. The guy who blew off concerns about G20 policing by saying, “You’re either for the cops or against them,” is just as likely to use the public backlash from reform types to justify getting rid of Blair. Is that what we really want?
