The Toronto Police Services Board has struck a small committee with the tall order of helping examine how missing persons cases are probed by its officers — an independent review commissioned in the wake of the ongoing investigation into alleged serial murderer Bruce McArthur. At a meeting at police headquarters Wednesday, the civilian board approved the members of the committee, which will propose which issues a review should examine related to Toronto police practices and conduct when it comes to missing persons investigations.Police board member Ken Jeffers will sit on the committee alongside Sara Mainville, a lawyer; Monica Forrester, the engagement co-ordinator for Maggie’s Toronto Sex Workers Action Project; and Shakir Rahim, a board member with the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP). “This I think is a very important first step in addressing something that has been searing in terms of its impact on the entire community, for obvious reasons,” Mayor John Tory told the board. The review was pushed for by community advocates and brought forward last month by Tory. It comes after mounting concerns in recent months about police handling of missing persons cases, including those involving men now alleged to be victims of McArthur. Due to the ongoing investigation and pending trial, the review will not specifically look at police conduct related to McArthur. Instead, it will examine broader issues surrounding how police conduct missing persons probes. That includes an examination of the impact of implicit bias, including around race or sexual orientation, might have on how officers investigate missing persons cases.“Given the link between recent missing person cases and the LGBTQ2S+ South Asian and Middle Eastern communities, it is important that the voices of our communities are strongly heard,” Rahim said in an email Wednesday. Since the external review was commissioned in March, Toronto police have laid two mor ...
|
