Hundreds of people are trying to have their voices heard when it comes to the future of policing in Toronto.
Today kicked off the first of several town halls being held by the Toronto Police Services Board in an attempt to gather public input on how policing can improve in the city.
More than 300 people have signed up to speak during these town halls. Today was a mixed bag that included support for police and those calling for defunding and dismantling the Toronto Police Service.
"It's hard to know what to say here, having been to countless board meetings over years to try to speak to the humanity of these board members," one caller said, "asking you to take meaningful action to end police violence toward Black and Indigenous people."
Several callers praised the board and the City for hosting the town hall meeting, while others called it an empty gesture.
The most engaging topic discussed surrounded police response to mental health calls. A majority of the callers wanted to see the introduction of a mental health response team that would attend these calls, completely independent from Toronto Police.
One caller referred to the Canadian Blood Services being introduced as a separate organization from the Red Cross to handle blood donations, after the Red Cross distributed HIV and Hepatitis C infected blood to about 2,000 Canadians 20 years ago.
"Blood services were severed from the Red Cross and a new agency was created to address the specific need for donation," the caller said. "How much more blood needs to be shed before mental health and other social services are severed from the Toronto Police?"
The town hall was scheduled after the public wanted to have their input on a report that was set to go before the board last month. That report details recommendations to improve race relations and police responses in the city.