Too many questions remain unanswered by Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair’s review of G20 policing, say critics who argue a full public inquiry is the only way to get to the bottom of what happened.
“It doesn’t do a complete job,” said Nathalie Des Rosiers, of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. “It doesn’t have the independence that a public inquiry would have.”
Blair’s 70-page-review released late Thursday, says police were overwhelmed and underprepared for what hit them at the G20, blaming a lack of planning time and training for many of their mistakes.
They were surprised by the Black Bloc, couldn’t handle the number of prisoners they were sending to the temporary detention centre and erred in corralling hundreds of peaceful protesters at Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.
“How do you spend a billion dollars in preparation for a two-day summit and not ensure that your members are trained and equipped?” said Edward Sapiano, a well-known Toronto lawyer and police critic. “It boggles the mind.”
The oft-mentioned $1.2 billion summit cost was for both the G8/G20 summits.
Sapiano said police seemed to show a great deal of training in order to corral about 300 protesters at Queen and Spadina — including many curious onlookers and passersby — on the final day of the summit with a controversial crowd-control technique known as “kettling,” which Toronto police now say they will never use again.
“That required a whole heck of a lot of training,” Sapiano said. “It wasn’t a lack of training, it was just the wrong training.”
On Newstalk 1010 Friday afternoon, Blair said police were committed to developing “new responses” and “new tactics” for future large-scale events based on lessons learned at the G20. “Because, sadly, I don’t believe this type of event is necessarily not going to happen again.”
Full Article
Source: Toronto Star
“It doesn’t do a complete job,” said Nathalie Des Rosiers, of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. “It doesn’t have the independence that a public inquiry would have.”
Blair’s 70-page-review released late Thursday, says police were overwhelmed and underprepared for what hit them at the G20, blaming a lack of planning time and training for many of their mistakes.
They were surprised by the Black Bloc, couldn’t handle the number of prisoners they were sending to the temporary detention centre and erred in corralling hundreds of peaceful protesters at Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.
“How do you spend a billion dollars in preparation for a two-day summit and not ensure that your members are trained and equipped?” said Edward Sapiano, a well-known Toronto lawyer and police critic. “It boggles the mind.”
The oft-mentioned $1.2 billion summit cost was for both the G8/G20 summits.
Sapiano said police seemed to show a great deal of training in order to corral about 300 protesters at Queen and Spadina — including many curious onlookers and passersby — on the final day of the summit with a controversial crowd-control technique known as “kettling,” which Toronto police now say they will never use again.
“That required a whole heck of a lot of training,” Sapiano said. “It wasn’t a lack of training, it was just the wrong training.”
On Newstalk 1010 Friday afternoon, Blair said police were committed to developing “new responses” and “new tactics” for future large-scale events based on lessons learned at the G20. “Because, sadly, I don’t believe this type of event is necessarily not going to happen again.”
Full Article
Source: Toronto Star
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