Mayor John Tory reiterated Monday he’s not interested in having the head of the Toronto Police Services Board step aside over controversial social media posts.
Tory made the comments at the board’s final meeting of the year Monday, his first as mayor.
“I’m very satisfied with the ways in which we resolved those matters today,” Tory said following the meeting.
Chair Alok Mukherjee has been under fire over the past few weeks since re-posting a controversial image on his Facebook page that compared police killings in the U.S. to terrorism and Ebola.
The post prompted the head of the police union to call for Mukherjee to step down.
In an interview with CP24 last week, Mukherjee acknowledged that he ‘could have been more careful’ and said reposting the image was a mistake. However he said the post was meant to promote discussion and said he took offense to the union’s ‘innuendo’ that he is biased against police.
Days later a report in the Globe and Mail linked Mukherjee’s Facebook acount to a 2013 post that appeared to make light of spousal abuse. Mukherjee told the paper he didn’t recall the post and his Facebook account has since been deleted.
“It’s going to be a very productive meeting and no I won’t,” Tory said in response to a question before Monday’s meeting about whether he would ask for Mukherjee to resign.
Mukherjee does not report to the mayor or to council. However Tory has indicated that he plans to take an active role on the police board during his term.
At its meeting, the board itself also decided that no further actions are needed with regards to the chair’s Facebook posts.
Board commissions new review of carding
Also on the agenda Monday, members voted to spend another $70,000 to have lawyer Frank Addario study carding further with a subcommittee.
In April, the police board approved a package of rules to prohibit officers from stopping individuals or prolonging their interactions without a valid public safety reason.
However a report released in November found that 62 per cent of respondents in the Jane Street and Finch Avenue area had nevertheless been carded since June. The study suggested that many residents don’t feel safe with police and that there was “widespread non-compliance” with the new rules among officers.
Police Chief Bill Blair slammed the report after it was released, saying that it was “not an accurate reflection of what is happening today.”
On Monday, Tory called the practice of carding “corrosive.”
The subcommittee is expected to report back to council on its review of carding policies by Feb. 19.
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