. @TorontoPolice have BEEN throwing women off balconies. mostly sex workers. mostly Black & Indigenous women. i have heard of multiple stories like this. #ftp forever; love to all Black & Indigenous women & all sex workers always.

when i called today, the cop heaved an annoyed sigh & started cutting me off as soon as i mentioned the address. what the fuck kind of inhumane response is that, @TorontoPolice? a woman is dead. you would think a professional at work could manage basic courtesy at a minimum.

the @torontopolice cop also tried to mansplain shame me into "waiting for the facts". excuse me? a woman is dead. the call is for an investigation. the point of an investigation is getting the facts. also, we have many facts to work from already.

scot wortley's "police use of force in ontario: an examination of data from the special investigations unit, final report" (2006), cited in @policingblack, examined 784 incidents of police violence brought to the SIU 2000-2006.

quoting @policingblack, wortley's report found that "Black populations face a rate of violence by police that is more than five times that of the white population, and were subject to rampant and frequent abuse with little to no access to recourse".

we also know that in 2013, only 4 police officers were charged, out of 320 complaints to the SIU, according to this @wendygillis article cited in #policingblack: https://www.thestar.com/amp/news/crime/2016/04/01/councillors-want-review-of-siu-through-anti-black-racism-lens.html

in 2016, after extensive @BLM_TO protests, city council voted to review the SIU through an antiracism lens. idk if that review happened but a quick search of @TorontoStar archives indicates that the SIU is continuing to racist as hard as ever: https://www.thestar.com/topic.special_investigations_unit.html

point being, @TorontoPolice, no one has any reason to trust you or "wait for facts" to come out before demanding an investigation or criticizing you. anyone paying attention to the facts can see how likely it is your officers murdered regis korchinski-paquet.

any fellow white folks reading this thread: we need to say her name: regis korchinski-paquet. out loud & often, to our white friends & family. we need to move everyone we can to the silent majority that does not call the police, because police do not keep most people safe.

we need to hold our grief for each other & not put it on Black folks. we need to offer care towards the centre of the circle of grief: check in on the Black folks in your life, offer specific support, and give reparations money to Black liberation work & joy projects regularly.