
Retired Toronto Police Supt. Selwyn “Sam” Fernandes worked under 10 different police chiefs during his almost 50 years of policing.
Mark Saunders was not on his top-10 list.
“People will say, ‘Who are you to criticize the chief?’ — and I don’t want to do it in a harsh way, but,” says Fernandes, “in my opinion, he didn’t deliver.”
Saunders shocked many with his announcement Monday that he would be resigning as Toronto police chief as of July 31 — eight months before his contract was due to expire.
Fernandes, though, was not surprised.
“I predicted it. A lot of things are not going well for him — black-on-black crime, amalgamation. Nothing’s worked,” Fernandes said.
Born in Tanzania and educated in Calcutta and Scotland, where he graduated as an aeronautical engineer, Fernandes was one of the few officers of colour when he joined Toronto Police in 1971 and the first visible minority to be promoted to inspector.
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See Also:
(1) Toronto councillors move to slash city police budget by $122 million
(2) Think about police reforms before acting
(3) Police deserve better training and benefit of the doubt