New poll finds ‘monumental shift’ in public perception of Toronto police because of G20 actions

Most Torontonians now believe police actions during the G20 summit were unjustified, signalling “a monumental shift” in public perception, according to an Angus Reid Public Opinion poll commissioned by the Toronto Star.

Immediately following last year’s summit, 73 per cent of Torontonians said police were justified in their response to demonstrations. One year later, that figure has dropped to only 41 per cent — a dramatic, 32-point percentage drop.

“Nearly half the people who said they supported the police actions a year ago have changed their minds,” said pollster Jaideep Mukerji, vice-president of Angus Reid. “It’s on that magnitude.”

The pendulum has swung sharply in the opposite direction. Just after the summit, 23 per cent of those polled felt the police response to G20 demonstrations was unjustified. That figure now has grown to 54 per cent.

The new poll also found that more than two-thirds of Torontonians support a full public inquiry into police actions during the summit.

In an interview Friday, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said those polled did not have the benefit of his G20 policing review, released Thursday.

“I think if people who have concerns about the police read that report they will have a much better understanding of what transpired,” Blair said.

Results of the exclusive poll were released just ahead of the G20 weekend’s first anniversary. In June 2010, the meeting of world leaders in Toronto brought with it a multi-million dollar security operation, mass demonstrations and rioting.

Police arrested more than 1,100 people — the largest mass arrest in Canadian history — though most were never charged.

Two Toronto police officers have been charged with assaulting protesters in the ensuing months. The charges were laid after intense media scrutiny and the reopening of once-closed cases by the Special Investigations Unit, whose work appeared to be hindered by a “blue wall of silence” among officers.

A majority of Torontonians polled said they are not confident in the SIU’s ability to hold officers accountable, which partly explains the vast support for a public inquiry, Mukerji said. Ongoing media attention on G20 fallout also helped to turn public opinion, he said.

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Source: Toronto Star