A spokesperson for the Indigenous Joint Action Coalition said prisons are part of a colonial legacy of oppression and should be replaced.

The call to defund police, spending more of the police budget on other health and safety issues, spread across North American as people protested the police in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.

'Your risk of illness and chance of getting better are very linked to who you are, how you live, what your income is.'

The Halifax board of police commissioners' special virtual meeting was stalled by technical and procedural issues.

Toronto must find a new way to deal with people in mental health crisis and root out racism within its police force, concerned citizens said on Thursday.

The new budget includes a cut of nearly $484 million from the New York Police Department's $6 billion operating budget, and shifts $354 million of police funding to other city agencies.

Montreal police say they respond to 33,000 mental health calls every year.

The mayor, a Democrat, declined to discuss the sources of what he called "savings'' for the nation's largest police department, saying at a news briefing that the cuts are still being negotiated with the City Council.

The 12-0 vote is just the first step in a process that faces significant bureaucratic obstacles to make the November ballot, where the city’s voters would have the final say.

A youth coordinator says police will look for ways to create bonds with younger generations if all boards choose to end the School Resource Officer program.