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There is a lot of mistrust with police

He wanted to “go back to the community where I grew up, and to be able to go back as a police officer in a place where there is a lot of mistrust with police,” he says before heading out on patrol in his dark blue uniform and bulletproof vest, his gun and radio clipped tight.

As Black Lives Matter protests rage and activists rail against police shootings, as officers are criticized for their handling of the mentally ill, and as a citizen’s movement swells to videotape and scrutinize officers, Toronto police constables like Waugh and his colleagues at 51 Division are on display like never before.

The police brass are acutely aware of these public relations challenges, perhaps accounting for the quick agreement to the National Post’s request for access to 51 — to its leaders, to its rank and file, to its station, to its protocols and to the madcap pageantry of life on the streets it is asked to serve and protect.

It allows us a peek into what it means to police.

It is not yet dark and already 51 Division police patrol officers are clogged with calls. Their radios and computer screens spit endless bursts of misery, anger and discontent.

A shooting on Queen St. a few hours earlier is choking an already suffocating system — a victim teeters on the brink and a gunman is at large but new calls keep coming, cries for help, big and small. A man with a syringe is threatening to stab passersby. A child abuse complaint requires a Hungarian-speaking officer. A cyclist has been doored.