Our response to the request for input from the Attorney General for Ontario, May 14, 2004:

Friends of Dufferin Grove Park
c/o 242 Havelock St.
Toronto, Ontario M6H 3B9

The Honourable Michael Bryant
Attorney General
Minister Responsible for Native Affairs
Minister Responsible for Democratic Renewal
720 Bay Street
11th floor
Toronto, Ontario M5G 2K1

Dear Mr. Bryant,

Thank you for your invitation to offer our suggestions about key issues we feel need to be addressed in your upcoming review of how public complaints against the police are handled. Over the past several years many people in our neighbourhood have been deeply troubled by some things the police have done and failed to do in Dufferin Grove Park and the surrounding neighbourhood. We have included four experiences (as examples) in the appendix to this letter. We are very troubled by the lack of responsiveness our community has met with in the face of our complaints. As a separate appendix, we have listed a number of key questions and issues which have arisen out of our experiences. We hope that these may be helpful to consider as you plan your review.

In light of our experiences, many of us who live in the neighbourhood and use Dufferin Grove Park are troubled by the fact that, in instances where we have come forward and made statements in good faith to police and police supervisors, our word has been given no credence. Even more disturbing is the existing situation in our area that any citizen, including those of some standing in the neighbourhood, who stop to observe police behaviour, feel vulnerable to a charge of obstructing a police officer. The situation is so acute that at this point, we are seeking support and advice from a criminal lawyer.

We agree with you that a responsive, thoughtful response to people's complaints to certain actions or inaction by the police is a fundamental and essential cornerstone of the public's responsibility and ability to ensure that police use the significant power granted to them in a constructive way. To us, a constructive way is one which responds to the priorities and actual difficulties that people want to see addressed in their own neighborhood. Surely, we would observe that this is what the Metro Police Force's own motto of "to serve and protect…. Serving people in their communities" was intended to mean.

Our community wants to make it clear that the right kind of service from public servants is good communication and sensible actions, not silence or dismissal.

Should you wish to read about any of these incidents in more detail, you might wish to look at our website at www.dufferinpark.ca , click on "police/safety." If you would like to discuss any of these matters further, please feel free to call me at 416-532-5170.

Yours truly,

Belinda Cole
Friends of Dufferin Grove Park

See also: Appendix 1; Appendix 2.