(Jamaica Gleaner) TORONTO’S POLICE chief, Mark Saunders, surprised many with the announcement that he will retire from the service on July 31 – eight months before his contract is set to expire.

Saunders mentioned the Transformational Task Force that he co-chaired with former Toronto Police Services Board member Andy Pringle as one of the highlights of his law-enforcement career.

However, Donna G., a community radio host, thinks Saunders is “a man caught between the black and the blue”.

She wondered how Saunders could “move forward as chief of police with ‘Black Lives Matter’ and calls to defund the police”.

Meanwhile, Yvette Blackburn, a former vice-chair of the police service’s Black Community Consultative Committee and a former member of the Police and Community Engagement Review Committee, says Saunders should be applauded for being successful in his role.