“Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders says recommendations made earlier this year by the Transformational Task Force – aimed at modernizing the service – should start to be implemented by the end of January… Among the changes, officers will focus on priority calls rather than be bogged down by incidents where they are not needed and they will be ‘connected’ via electronic memo books, he explained… So far this year, there has been a 41% increase in shooting occurrences in the city from 2015, murders are up 25% and gun deaths have jumped 52%.” (Emphasis added).

(more…)

“(But) instead of sending Reid to jail for six to 12 months – the sentence sought by the Crown for three counts of trafficking in crack cocaine and one count of possession of the proceeds of crime – (Judge Ed) Morgan recently handed down what’s known as a conditional sentence, more commonly known as house arrest… Morgan explains that he considered both Reid’s personal circumstances and societal forces – including anti-black racism and the over-incarceration of people from the black community.” (Emphasis added).

(more…)

“(But) I expect judges to make the determination using reasonable criteria, based on the facts before the court… the court created or made-up a fact situation and tested the minimum sentence against the made-up facts.” – Alan Shanoff, Toronto Sun.

(more…)