Toronto’s police services board has approved a review of a controversial program that places police officers in certain schools in the city.
The board voted unanimously on Thursday to review the School Resource Officer program, with the assessment to be carried out by researchers at Toronto’s Ryerson University.
Toronto police first assigned officers to 30 high schools around the city in 2008 to improve safety and perceptions of the police.
But a number of deputants at the board meeting on Thursday demanded that the board shutter the program entirely due to concerns over racial and anti-immigrant bias.
An interim report on the review’s findings is expected to be released in January.