Public trust in police takes a direct hit
Torontonians’ faith in officers drops sharply after Forcillo verdict, perjury charges: poll
Toronto voters’ trust in local police officers dropped sharply between the beginning of jury deliberations in the trial of Const. James Forcillo and the days fol- lowing the guilty verdict, according to a new Forum Research poll.
In a poll done on Jan. 20, 78 per cent of respondents said they trusted Toronto police officers.
But, by Jan. 29, that number had fallen to 63 per cent, according to a second, more extensive poll. Thirty-seven per cent also said they trusted Toronto police officers less than they did a year ago.
The results come on the heels of what Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders called an “anomaly week” for the service.
Along with the jury finding Forcillo guilty of attempted murder in the 2013 shooting death of Sammy Yatim, four Toronto police officers were charged with perjury and obstruction of justice after allegedly planting heroin in a suspect’s car.
Disciplinary charges were also laid against another officer in relation to a high-profile car chase last September, where an officer fired at least14 shots into the hood of a stopped car in the Distillery District.
“The public has taken notice of the mishaps in the Toronto Police Service recently.” LORNE BOZINOFF FORUM RESEARCH
Seventy-one per cent of respondents said they knew about the latter two incidents, while a further 16 per cent were aware of at least one of them.
“It is apparent that the public has taken notice of the mishaps in the Toronto Police Service recently and this has had an effect on their trust in the policing of Toronto,” Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said in a statement.
However, while it appears from the poll results that citizens’ trust in officers has been shaken by recent events, few have changed their opinion of Saunders. His approval rating has consistently remained around 47 per cent since he was appointed in April 2015.
About a quarter of respondents (24 per cent) think there’s less wrongdoing in the Toronto Police Service compared with other police forces in Canada.
About 48 per cent of those polled believe the alleged planting of heroin in a suspect’s car and the Distillery District gunfire were isolated, random incidents.
In a news conference announcing that charges of perjury and obstruction of justice were being laid against the four officers Thursday, Saunders said the force “will do our best to get the public trust back that we have lost in certain ways.”
“Anything that questions the integ- rity of the Toronto Police Service concerns me,” he said.
The initial poll was conducted Jan. 20 by Forum Research and surveyed 546 randomly selected voters in Toronto. The second poll was conducted Jan. 29 and surveyed 586 randomly selected voters in Toronto via an interactive voice-response telephone survey.
Results based on the total sample are considered accurate, plus or minus 4 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Where appropriate, the data has been statistically weighted by age, region and other variables to ensure that the sample reflects the actual population according to the latest census data.