Another opinion on why Fantio is out... I tend to agree with his assesment of the situation...
LINK
Jun. 30, 2004. 01:00 AM
Why Julian Fantino had to go
KYLE GRAYSON
Don't cry for Chief Julian Fantino. Above all else, he was a political opportunist who fell victim to his own managerial and ideological imperatives.
Reflecting neo-conservatism's own punitive bias towards the vulnerable, Fantino's approach to policing was underscored by a myopic interpretation of how to control crime that rested on the contentious assumptions espoused by right-wing American authors of law and order agendas.
Thus, rather than seeking to address social factors that would prevent criminal activity such as fixing the city's tattered social safety net or revitalizing community programs for youth,
Fantino stressed increasing the reactionary capability of the Toronto Police Services by hiring more police officers and procuring expensive equipment.
In pushing for more resources, Fantino never let the facts get in the way of this questionable agenda. With a steady stream of Statistics Canada studies indicating that all forms of crime, including violent crime, have reached historic lows in Canada ? and in Toronto ? he never missed an opportunity to warn that crime was remorselessly rising and threatening to run amok.
Unfortunately, he was very successful in harnessing our fears.
For example, hiring additional police officers was catapulted into a municipal election issue.
And even with a more measured city council, Fantino was able to secure a $50 million increase in funding this year that leaves 58 per cent of all discretionary spending for the City of Toronto earmarked for the police ? an amount larger than the combined totals devoted to community programming, the environment, transit, and public health.
Moreover, while Fantino was a master of hyperbole when it came to crime statistics and the identification of "problem" communities (remember his open letter to Jean Chrétien that claimed raves were "threatening the very fabric of Canadian life"?), he was also quick to downplay any suggestions that the TPS was a source of community insecurity in Toronto.
Thus, even with an overwhelming abundance of data that clearly demonstrated the presence of racial profiling by Toronto police officers, Fantino chose to deny these practices occur and has instead argued that it is a non-issue raised by "those who are intent on causing trouble."
Despite corruption that has been revealed throughout various divisions of the TPS and the highest levels of the Toronto Police Association, Fantino, with each successive scandal, has continued to maintain that the problems are isolated.
His unwillingness to initiate the kind of far- reaching organizational investigation by an independent authority that is needed to regain the public's faith in this key institution demonstrates a total failure in leadership and an aversion to processes of accountability.
Thus, Fantino adopted a divisive managerial strategy that called into question the loyalty of anyone who disagreed with his perception of the virtual infallibility of policing in Toronto and expended energy on denying that fundamental problems existed rather than robustly addressing them.
As such, Fantino's lack of leadership and disciplinary control over the Toronto Police Service has left us with a policing organization that erased many of the ethical boundaries that are supposed to guide the law enforcement profession in a liberal democracy.
He never strongly commented on the inappropriateness of the police association's telemarketing drive for financial donations, a tactic that, even in intending no malice, was perceived by many as dangerously close to strong-arming citizens.
Moreover, our police force should conduct itself publicly in a manner that does not show any allegiance or support for a particular political party or candidate.
By maintaining public political neutrality, our security forces ensure that their inherent coercive powers ? perceived and otherwise ? do not influence or impinge upon the electoral freedoms of any citizen.
The political endorsements made by our police force under Fantino's watch undermined this key element of the democratic process and should have been immediately addressed by the chief.
Instead, Fantino reinforced this dangerous practice by publicly aligning himself with all levels of the Canadian right and utilizing their political rhetoric and power to push his policing agenda.
With the ouster of the provincial Tories and the return of a progressive city council, Fantino's own public self-identification with the political forces of the right was certainly a detriment.
However, the situation was one that Fantino played a central role in orchestrating: He played politics, misread the environment by not taking a contract extension when it was initially offered, gambled with his future, and lost.
Fantino's politicization of the chief of police's office and his own inability to adequately address the vital challenges facing the TPS undermined his credibility, making the decision to remove him both prudential and inevitable.
Far from being the victim of a leftist conspiracy, Fantino has no one to blame for his demise but himself.
Kyle Grayson is a Post-Doctoral Fellow, Canadian Consortium on Human Security Centre for International and Security Studies at York University.