Now, make the change

The first step to ending the Bruce McArthur nightmare that engulfed Toronto’s Gay Village came two years ago when he pleaded guilty to murdering eight men.

This week delivered another step forward. Toronto’s police leadership acknowledged the force’s many failures and vowed to implement the recommendations of the independent review into missing person investigations.

The shortcomings identified “are inexcusable,” interim police chief James Ramer said. “We acknowledge the mistakes made, the process failures, and the gaps … We apologize for the anger, hurt and damage … None of this should have happened.”

“We fell short,” added police board chair Jim Hart. “We did not inspire the public trust and confidence that is essential to democratic policing. We cannot let that happen again.”

Now it’s time for the most important step: making good on those fine words. Canada’s largest police force must modernize and overhaul the way it handles missing persons cases — especially those involving marginalized and vulnerable communities where relations with the police are poor and mistrust, for good reason, is high.

The review, led by retired Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Gloria Epstein, looked at the police investigation into McArthur’s serial killings and the bungled search for Tess Richey and Alloura Wells. Epstein made 151 important recommendations for change.

The review identified specific flaws and systemic failures. Police failed to escalate cases and were resistant to linking them. Proper missing persons procedures were not followed. So much so that police missed opportunities to identify McArthur as the killer.

Indeed, Epstein was struck by the “randomness of what was done in each investigation.”

Overall, the missing persons cases were not given the priority and resources they deserved. And at least some of that relates to “misconceptions or stereotypical ideas” about the LGBTQ community that hampered investigations.

That, of course, comes as no surprise to the family and friends and the broader community who were treated abysmally by the police.

It was Tess Richey’s mother, not Toronto police, who found her body near where she was last seen.

When Alloura Wells’ father first tried to report her missing, the police desk officer didn’t file a report. She was an Indigenous woman who was a homeless trans sex worker with addictions and the officer told her father “not to worry.” In fact, she was already in the morgue, unidentified.

Epstein said that case is a “microcosm of the systemic issues” at the Toronto Police Service.

And it gets at the extensive culture change that is needed as much as adherence to existing procedures for missing person cases and adopting better ones.

Her recommendations include better community policing, more roles for civilians, more involvement of community groups and better communication with the public.

Those are key to building relationships and trust with any marginalized or vulnerable community that has faced systemic discrimination.

They are also some of the hardest to bring about. We know that because there have been previous reports highlighting the dangers of systemic discrimination and previous police chiefs acknowledging mistakes and vowing to do better, and yet we’re here still without the fundamental change that has long been required.

Epstein dedicated her report to the victims, their families and loved ones, and promised that their loss is not in vain. “They will serve as the catalyst for real and lasting improvements to how the Toronto Police Service investigates reports of missing persons,” she wrote. And it will contribute to “improved relationships between (Toronto police) and the marginalized and vulnerable communities it serves and protects — relationships built on trust and on mutual respect.” She has done her part in delivering the report.

Now it’s up to the Toronto Police Service, and the board that oversees it, to make the changes. And for the broader public to be watchful that they do.

Overall, the missing persons cases were not given the priority and resources they deserved, the report shows