Peel police chief under fire

Re Top cop in Peel tears into chairman, June 17 Peel’s “top cop,” Jennifer Evans, refuses to acknowledge who her boss is. The direct answer: we the people. Perhaps another civics course is in order for the police academy.

This is typical of Toronto-area chiefs and unions and shows how weak-kneed the bureaucrats heading up our so-called oversight committees are. Former Toronto police chief Bill Blair refused for more than a year to implement a new carding directive from his superiors, the Toronto Police Services Board. Most corporations would have fired the insubordinate without severance. David LaFerle, Toronto One gets the impression the Peel chief can do as she pleases and the civilian oversight board is powerless to hold her accountable. Salmon Lee, Mississauga To Peel police board chair Amrik Ahluwalia: The situation is clear, as is the solution: fire the chief and a good chunk of her senior command staff. Jim Conchie, Toronto Clearly, there are serious allegations embroiling the Peel Regional Police — unproven allegations of racism. I feel empathy for Chief Evans because it is never easy to be at the centre of such controversy in the public sector.

However, I take umbrage with Peel Police Services Board Chair Amrik Ahluwalia for levelling sexist and patronizing language at Evans. If Chief Evans was a male, Ahluwalia would not make the comment, “I know she is kind of emotional at this time.”

Women in leadership roles have faced a long journey in proving such pejorative assumptions wrong. The current issue being reviewed within Peel Police Services is not helped when key players muddy the waters with sexist comments. Pam Tomasevic, Mississauga