32-year veteran named Toronto's 1st black police chief

The Toronto Police Services Board has picked Mark Saunders as its new chief, CBC News has confirmed.

Saunders, a deputy chief and also the officer in charge of the TO2015 Pan Am Games, will take over from Bill Blair, who is set to retire at the end of this week. Police are set to officially announce the news on Monday morning at 10 a.m. ET.

Saunders will be the city's first black police chief, stepping into the role during a turbulent time between the force and some minority communities. Blair oversaw the implementation of the city's controversial carding policy, which allows officers to collect information from residents even if they have committed no offence. 

• Carding policy passed despite lingering concerns
• Chief Bill Blair talks carding, his final months on the job

The carding policy was originally part of a community outreach program intended to improve ties between the police service and marginalized communities. The effect has largely been the opposite, spurring greater distrust and forcing police to re-evaluate the policy altogether. 

Members of the police board have expressed a desire to have the city's diversity reflected among the top echelon of the police command structure. 

Homicide unit veteran

Saunders has had a 32-year career with Toronto police, working with the force's gang and drug squads and overseeing the homicide division — one of the largest in Canada.

According to his police biography, Saunders also created the force's investigative cybercrime unit, known as "C3," and was one of the authors of the "Police and Community Engagement Review," now commonly known as the PACER report. 

The report largely endorsed carding as a valuable policing tool, drawing backlash from community advocates and organizers. 

Toronto businessman and former Etobicoke city council candidate Andray Domise used social media to criticize Saunders's appointment, saying Saunders is deeply entrenched in the police establishment and pointing to his role in the PACER report conclusions as evidence that he is unlikely bring about significant changes. 

Peter Sloly, the force's other deputy chief and contributor to the PACER report, was considered the the other frontrunner for police chief. 

'Gaps of distrust'

CBC Radio's Metro Morning discussed what having a black police chief could mean for the city last week.

Anthony Morgan, a lawyer at the African Canadian Legal Clinic, said having an accomplished officer like Saunders at the helm could make an "important difference."

According to Morgan, a black chief may not stop many of the negative interactions many black residents — especially young people — have with police including racial profiling and carding. But, he said, the change in leadership could diminish the "gaps of distrust" between black communities and the police.

Blair also resided over his force's handling of the G20 protests in Toronto in 2010. He was criticized for controversial tactics used by the riot squad, including kettling and what some have called a clear abuse of police powers.