'We're flabbergasted!': Residents of west-end community oppose closing 12 Division

LarryColleis "flabbergasted" that a task force wants to shutter what he calls "a model of community policing."

Collewas one of several residentswho attended a community meetingTuesdaynight with Chief Mark Saunders andToronto Police Services Board Chair AndyPringle.

His neighbourhood is served by officers of12 Division, whichis located on the southwest corner of Black Creek Drive andTretheweyDrive, just northofEglintonAvenueWest.

The proposal to close the station is part of a report released in June on the future of the Toronto Police Service. It was drawn up by a high-profile task force struck by Toronto Mayor John Tory.

• 'It's not going to be safe without them': What losing a police station would mean to a Toronto community

"We're a needy, poor area,"Colletold Saunders at the meeting held at the Learning Enrichment Foundation in the Black Creek Road andEglintonAvenue West area."Many of us work with themarginalizedand disadvantaged and we're concerned about the possibility of losing this community safety hub.

"The model of community policing is in 12 Division," he added. "They work with 12 to 15 community groups, they do every sort of program, they work with every school in the area."

In an interview with CBC News,Collesaid that 12 Division is "a model police station so we're flabbergasted. I don't understand why they can't see that community policing already works here. The policeraise fundsfor poor groups, they organize coat drives, they work with parent councils and schools, and they have monthly meetings [at the station]."

Saunders told the gathering that putting more police officers in an area many say suffers from high crime "may not be the right answer right now."

He said advances in technology are shaping modern policing.

"The stations were the central hub for distribution of information," Saunders said. "That's not necessarily the case anymore. A physical building plays a role in policing but that footprint doesn't need to be as big as it is."

• Toronto police stations to close, programs to disband in task force proposals: document

"With digital processing, I can have smaller desks, I don't need a 60,000-square-foot building," he said. "It allows me to put divisions in more smaller locations and still deliver policing that's better than 30 years ago."

RoshanAhmedtold the meeting she heard gunshots in her neighbourhood at around 9:45 p.m. Monday.

She pleaded with Saunders not to close 12 Division.

"Please don't close our police station. We need it," she said. "There's a lot of crime in the neighbourhood."

In an interview with CBC News,Ahmedsaid she's "not scared, but concerned about 12 Division closing."

"I think it's a done deal and the community is speaking up," she said. "Perhaps there's a chance they won't close it. I think the physical presence, it's worth it for our community."

Colle says that the riding is the second poorest in Ontario.

"The poor in this neighbourhood are asking, 'Why is it always us they go after?' We just can't take it anymore."