'I feel like I let you down a bit': Trailblazer on police board departs with call to action on diversity

Chair Susan Toth resigned from the London Police Services Board (LPSB) just as she had joined it in 2017 — pushing for improvement, compassion and diversity. At the end of Thursday’s meeting, Toth surprised everyone with her decision to step down after being reappointed by council late last year.

Chair Susan Toth resigned from the London Police Services Board (LPSB) just as she had joined it in 2017 — pushing for improvement, compassion and diversity.

At the end of Thursday’s meeting, Toth surprised everyone with her decision to step down after being reappointed by council late last year.

She described a growing realization that she’s “at the end of my rope.”

Toth expressed her mixed feelings about leaving the seven-member board with only one seat filled by a person from a racialized community and said, “Felt like a disservice to the community, and to my community in particular as a racialized woman, if I wasn’t going to be able to give a hundred percent.”

To the BIPOC community she admitted, “I feel Iike I let you down a bit.”

However, the board’s accomplishments during her tenure suggests otherwise.

London police hired a psychologist to treat officers, urged the federal government to recognize femicide, and established advisory panels on racism, mental health and addiction.