UNFORGETTABLE SAGAS, SCOOPS AND SCANDALS
 from Toronto Life’slong-form archives

Dear Reader,

On Monday, the Toronto Police Services Board okayed a controversial $48-million hike to the force’s budget—bringing the total pot to $1.16 billion. Mayor John Tory defended the boost, calling it a necessary investment to keep the city safe from violent crime. New police chief Myron Demkiw argued that the TPS remains one of the leanest policing organizations on the continent, at a cost of about $1 per day to each Torontonian. Meanwhile, critics contend that the true cost of a bloated police budget isn’t just about the dollar amount: it’s about deciding what role, exactly, we want the police to have in our communities. This week, we revisit three stories that explore the fraught history of the TPS, from money problems to institutional racism to police killings.

The Police vs. Everybody Else

Toronto’s cops are overpaid, underworked, deeply entrenched and all too powerful. When they ask for more money, they tend to get it. Inside the problems plaguing the TPS

BY PHILIP PREVILLE | APRIL 26, 2016

In 2016, police chief Mark Saunders led the TPS as a skilled tactician who successfully lobbied for a $51-million net increase to the force’s budget. This deep dive by Philip Preville broke down the organization’s biggest headaches, including the fact that the city’s cops are being paid far too much to do far too little. “Toronto policing is stuck in the past,” wrote Preville. “Amid a ballooning police budget and greater scrutiny of police behaviour, there is an appetite for change in the city.” Yet, several years and two police chiefs later, we’re seeing more of the same.

The Skin I’m In

I’ve been interrogated by police more than 50 times—all because I’m Black

BY DESMOND COLE | APRIL 21, 2015

In this 2015 feature, award-winning journalist Desmond Cole offered an intimate, infuriating look at his experiences as a Black Canadian dealing with racism, injustice and the Toronto police. By his early 20s, Cole wrote, he had been followed, questioned and carded by cops so many times that he began to expect it. Years before the TPS formally apologized for its culture of anti-Black racism, Cole’s story revealed how the discriminatory surveillance made him feel like a prisoner in his own city.

The Killing of Sammy Yatim

The death of Sammy Yatim unleashed a torrent of anti-police outrage. For most Torontonians, the video was the verdict. But what really happened on the Dundas streetcar that night?

BY M. E. ROGAN | AUGUST 14, 2014

On July 26, 2013, a distressed Sammy Yatim boarded a westbound streetcar and pulled a switchblade. Soon afterward, constable James Forcillo shot the 18-year-old nine times. Yatim was pronounced dead by early morning. After a cellphone video of the last 90 seconds of his life went viral, a city-wide consensus quickly formed: this teenager didn’t have to die. In this investigation, M. E. Rogan told the story of the cop who pulled the trigger—and why.

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