Toronto鈥檚 police chief insists he wasn鈥檛 鈥減ointing fingers鈥� after he suggested that an accused serial killer might have been stopped sooner had members of the LGBTQ community reached out to police earlier.
Chief Mark Saunders said the early investigation into the case was held back due to a lack of information.
鈥淲e knew that people were missing and we knew we didn't have the right answers. But nobody was coming to us with anything,鈥� Saunders said in the interview published Tuesday. 鈥淲as I satisfied with what we did? At the time, with the information that we had, the answer is yes.鈥�
He added that police knew 鈥渟omething was up鈥� but investigators 鈥渄id not have the evidence.鈥�
鈥淚f anyone knew before us, it's people who knew him very, very well,鈥� Saunders said.
The chief鈥檚 comments drove a new wedge into an already frayed relationship between the police force and Toronto鈥檚 LGBTQ community. Community leaders say it was their advocacy -- such as a town hall meeting held months before police linked the missing persons cases -- that kept the story in the public eye.
Since mid-2017, posters of the missing men were posted throughout the gay village, and family members of Andrew Kinsman, one of the missing men, organized volunteer-led search parties. Facebook posts connecting the missing men 鈥� some of whom share a striking physical resemblance 鈥� had been circulating online for months.
Bruce McArthur, 66, was arrested in January. He is charged with six counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Skandaraj Navaratnam (Skanda), Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi, Dean Lisowick, Selim Esen, and Andrew Kinsman.
Investigators say there could be more victims, and that the investigation is ongoing.
In an interview with CP24, Saunders responded to the public outcry following the Globe and Mail article.
鈥淩ight off the bat, if there is anything that I said that was misconstrued or taken in the wrong context, then I definitely apologize for that,鈥� Saunders said Tuesday evening. 鈥淏ut in no way, shape or form was that me trying to point fingers.鈥�
Saunders said that anyone who has worked with him knows that he has never been 鈥渁 blame kind of person.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e always looked for solutions,鈥� Saunders said.
Asked what he would do differently in the investigation with all the information he has now, Saunders said his focus would be police 鈥渕essaging鈥� around getting civilians to come forward with information.
鈥淚 would take a serious, hard look at is our messaging right,鈥� he said, adding that a lot of people 鈥渧et鈥� information before they come forward to police.
鈥淎 lot of people vet information and they don鈥檛 do it ill intended and I think that鈥檚 something to recognize,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 think they鈥檙e thinking, boy I have this little piece (of information), but I don鈥檛 want to give this little piece because I don鈥檛 want someone getting arrested by the police because I have this little piece (of information) -- not understanding that you only represent one piece of the jigsaw puzzle.鈥�
鈥淎nd so that鈥檚 certainly one of the issues I would like to message a little bit better,鈥� he said.
Regardless, Saunders said he wants to hear from the community about how the force can do its job better.
鈥淚f there is something wrong that we have done, I certainly would ask the community as a whole, not just the specific community, but as a community, as the city of Toronto, what do we as an agency need to do differently?鈥�
Moving forward, Saunders said he wants to work on building a relationship of greater trust between police and the public.
Asked whether he would endorse an inquiry into the missing men, Saunders said he would support 鈥渁nything that will enhance the accountability and trust factor of our organization.鈥�
Saunders released an audio recording of he said, so that the community could judge the discussion for themselves.
'痴颈肠迟颈尘-产濒补尘颈苍驳鈥�
Members of the city鈥檚 LGBTQ community have accused the police chief of passing blame.
Nicki Ward, an LGBTQ community advocate, called Saunders鈥� comments 鈥渦nhelpful鈥� during an interview with 麻豆影视 Channel Tuesday.
鈥淚t does sound a lot like victim-blaming and frankly, it doesn鈥檛 seem to be founded in fact,鈥� she said.
鈥淭he first missing person was in 2010 and as a result of community outcry, Project Houston was opened in 2012. It was then closed down in 2014; thereafter, the community again came to the fore鈥� these initiatives were driven by the community in the first place.鈥�
Kristyn Wong-Tam, the city councillor for the village, agreed that residents in the community were active during the investigation into the disappearances.
鈥淭he community actually did rally themselves and put themselves out there by doing search parties, by putting up posters in the neighbourhood, they were talking to one another,鈥� she told CTV Toronto.
鈥淚 know that the police were receiving information so I find the police chief鈥檚 comments a little bit unsettling.鈥�
Ward said on the local level, policing in the community has been good, but she can鈥檛 say the same for the entire organization.
鈥淭he relationship with senior management is highly problematic as evidenced by these remarks. We continue to reach out. We continue to try and be collegial, but this seems, to say the least, to be incredibly unhelpful.鈥�
Mayor defends chief
Toronto Mayor John Tory told reporters that he has 鈥渘o sense whatsoever鈥� that Chief Mark Saunders blames members of the city鈥檚 LGBTQ community for not coming forward earlier with information about McArthur.
鈥淭here is no one who is suggesting any blame belongs on victims of horrific crimes,鈥� Tory said on Tuesday. 鈥淲e are all grieving as a city with the LGBTQ and Church-Wellesley community generally.鈥�
Tory added: 鈥淭he ultimate objective is one very simple objective, which is to increase and restore any trust lost between the police and the LGBTQ community and we are going to keep working on that every single day.鈥�
With files from CTV Toronto and CP24
