After he becomes the newest member of the Toronto police board, Ainsworth Morgan plans to spend a good while just listening — a skill he has honed over two decades as an educator.

“I think it’s important to be a good listener, to recognize that these are issues that are not necessarily easy and there are some difficult challenges that are ahead,” Ainsworth said in an interview this week.

Morgan, the principal at the Toronto District School Board’s Pelmo Park Public School, will be sworn in Wednesday to a three-year provincial appointment as the civilian police board’s seventh member. He replaces Ken Jeffers, whose term ended in November.

Raised in Regent Park, Morgan studied criminology in United States before playing professional football, including two years with the Toronto Argonauts. He then turned to education, including a stint at his own former elementary school in Regent Park, now known as Nelson Mandela Park Public School.

He says 20 years in education have taught him how to work with people who have a diversity of opinions, a skill he says will serve him well on the police board, particularly during public meetings.

The board’s monthly meetings often include heated debate and protests, which sometimes force them to recess or end prematurely. In July, a group of demonstrators disrupted a meeting to protest what they said was a lack of swift action following the allegation that Black teen Dafonte Miller had been assaulted by off-duty Toronto police officer Michael Theriault and his brother, Christian. The Theriault brothers are currently on trial in Oshawa.

Asked how he will handle arguments and confrontations as a board member, Morgan said the protests show there is “obviously passion about the issues.”

The solution lies in getting “to the root of where that passion is coming from” and finding common ground, Morgan said.

Calling himself a “big proponent of community policing,” Morgan said he is particularly interested in helping build positive relationships between youth and police.

On a “selfish level,” the father of three — his sons are 20 and 16, his daughter turns 14 on Wednesday — Morgan said he is concerned for his children, as well as for those in his school. He is worried about both the rising levels of violence in the city — which saw a record number of shootings in 2019 — and negative interactions between officers and youth.

“I want them to be safe, whether that’s from the police, or someone involved in high-risk behaviour, whatever the case may be,” he said.

The police board continues to oversee a time of transition, with the service in the midst of a multi-year plan to modernize the force, reduce costs and increase public trust.

During Morgan’s tenure, the board will also choose a replacement for Chief Mark Saunders, who was granted a one-year contract extension last year. The chief’s position will be vacant as of April 30, 2021.

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Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and policing. Reach her by email at wgillis@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis

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