Grey cruiser drama is chief's biggest regret of 2016

Toronto's police chief dealt with homicides, gun violence and the continuing fallout from the controversial practice of carding in 2016, butone surprising decision generated the most uproar.

CBC Toronto's Dwight Drummond, in a year-end interview at police headquarters, asked Chief Mark Saunders what his biggest regret of the year was.

"Oh, you're talking about the grey cars?" Saunders responded.

"It's a great day when that's a top story in a large urban city."

Saunders stopped the rollout of the new grey and fluorescent white cruisers in November, after weeks of public backlash. Some people said the new cars looked like military vehicles while others worried they weren't visible enough.

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Even the Toronto Police Services Board criticized the decision to move away from white cruisers, saying it hadn't been properly consulted, while city council requested the vehicles remain white with blue and red.

Amid the uproar over the redesigned cruisers, Saunders admitted he'd put "no deep thought"into the new look but said he believed the cars were "very identifiable."

He began regretting the move when stories about the grey cruisers were trumping stories about homicide suspects being arrested.

"My men and women are doing great work and this was overshadowing great work," he said.

There are around 100 of the grey cruisers on the street today, and Saunders isn't ruling out using themin the future.

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders on 2017 goals

8 years ago

Duration 3:02

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders discusses some of the police service's 2017 goals with CBC Toronto anchor Dwight Drummond.

His first cruiser was bright yellow, he said, and when police changed to white vehicles there was similar outrage as the public acclimatized. He also stands by the visibility of the vehicles, saying they're "loud and clear" in his eyes.

Saunders vowed, however, to do more public consultation before putting any more of those vehicles on the roads.