GC Interview with public art patron, Constable Scott Mills

GC Interview with public art patron, Constable Scott Mills
Constable Scott Mills (#8501) of the Toronto Police is the School Officer for Toronto Crime Stoppers
and the city-wide Legal Graffiti Art Coordinator. Gallery Crawl caught up with Constable Mills
during the priming of the Richmond & Bathurst street lane way public mural. [The following interview
was conducted by e-mail].

March, 2007, Toronto.

Gallery Crawl: I remember seeing you, a Toronto police constable, taking photographs of painted
alley walls and my immediate assumption was that it was some criminal investigation. In fact, you
champion such public art initiatives. What was it like the first time you walked into a Secondary School
as a police officer?

Constable Scott Mills: Bill, to be honest with you, I can't remember the first time I walked into a
school as a police officer... I can tell you that walking into the school as a uniform police officer on a
regular basis often illicits a degree of distrust immediately when the students first see you. What is
refreshing is that once a positive relationship is established between the police officer and the students,
it is a very welcoming feeling that you get as a police officer walking into a school. For me, the concept
of helping students obtain 'legal walls' for their street art has been a significant contributor to the
positive relationship I enjoy with several students.

Gallery Crawl: From what I've seen, you're an easy-going, informal guy with the students, artists and
volunteers. What's the best part of your job?

Constable Scott Mills: The best part of my job is seeing the satisfaction of the faces of the students
when they have empowered themselves to make a difference in their communities. I like to be in the
background facilitating their ideas...a simple smile from even one of the students is the best part of my
job.

Gallery Crawl: A quote from Toronto's Graffiti Abatement Program:

       The Graffiti Abatement Program has launched a determined, aggressive and integrated enforcement
       plan to effectively wipe out graffiti. This often entails coordinating the actions of municipal departments,
       agencies, boards and commissions along with the community at large.
       (http://www.toronto.ca/graffiti/abatement_program.htm#bylaw)

In this document, the city states the difference between illegal graffiti and legal art murals, but doesn't
define that difference. Is there one?

Constable Scott Mills: It is a subjective test that often comes down to the interpretation of what is 'art'
by a by-law officer. This is a problematic concept for many artists. There is an appeal process in the
city of Toronto Graffiti By-Law that allows a decision made by a by-law officer of whether it is 'art' or
graffiti vandalism. Unfortunately, the process takes some time, and there is a cost to the person making
the appeal. For me, what it comes down to is consent of the property owner, and the consent of public

opinion of the community. I promote a positive relationship between both the property owner and the
prospective artist, as well as interested community members. Ideally the artist and property owner
would meet and discuss their ideas for the art work that will be done on their property. We have had
many community building success stories when a process like this occurs. Many artists like the
spontaneity of creating as they feel at the moment. We have had many success stories of positive and
respected art murals being completed like this as well. It is a matter of finding a property owner with
the same idea as the artist when it comes to creative license. In fact, on the last large project we did, we
sent a letter to the property owners stating that the artists that we were working with appreciated
creative license. The property owners consented and even donated money for paint supplies.

Gallery Crawl: You're the 14 Division Secondary School Watch Officer. Could you tell us the history
of this type of role within the Toronto Police Service (TPS)?

Constable Scott Mills: 14 Division is the only Toronto Police Service division with two dedicated
long term 'Secondary School Watch' officers. The project was created about ten years ago by a
dedicated and respected officer named Ted Fritz. His vision was that uniform officers dedicated to
youth would be assigned to the high schools permanently. These officers would deal with the
administrators and students on a regular basis, and form positive relationships over a number of years.
The result is a better connection to the community for the police and a better connection to the police
for the students and school administrators. It is a win-win for the students, school administration,
police and the community. Three years ago, I added to this program with a project called Project
Internet-Truancy. This increased the officer strength working in uniform on bicycles in and around the

schools to seven. We concentrated on locating the students being truant and returning them to their
school. In the process we asked them for their e-mail addresses and social networking site URL's. We
would check their online content in conjunction with the school administrators and guidance staff with
the intent of addressing at risk postings or activities that the students were posting online. In short the
goal is to locate that troubled youth who is talking online about doing a school shooting before he/she
actually does it, and try to get them the help they need.

Other Toronto divisions have dedicated officers to high schools working in their Street Crime Units,
Youth Bureaux and Community Response Units, depending on which division you fall in. The
unifying program is the Empowered Student Partnership program ( www.esponline.ca ). This program
features school officers working in partnership with a staff advisor from the school, and a committee of
students with the common goal of the students identifying the 'safe school' issues at their schools, and
working on a plan to improve the situation themselves with the mentorship of the police officer and
their staff advisor. When this program works as it is designed to work, the positive benefits are
overwhelming. In fact, when you met me, it was the ESP team from one of my schools that was doing
the video project of the event. It was the ESP team who was encouraging some of the 'not so willing'
kids to be doing work in that lane way! The Toronto Police Service has also partnered with the
Students Commission of Canada in the past two years for Project P.E.A.C.E. (Public Education and
Crime Eradication www.peace-project.org). Two educational DVD's have been created by youth with
the mentorship of the police and technical assistance from Seneca College students and staff. These
DVD's are designed to educate youth at all age levels on the positive choices that they need to make to
avoid gun and gang violence. The TPS also has offered for a number of years an outdoor outripping

program for inner city youth called the TROOP program. This is a very effective program that
promotes healthy lifestyles and teamwork. The results are changed attitudes on both the part of the
youth and the police. Finally, I am the school officer for the Toronto Crime Stoppers program. My
mandate is to attend schools, events, and anything to do with youth and create a positive relationship.
The police realize that in a perfect world, all crime would be reported. We also realize that we don't
live in a perfect world. As a last resort, I encourage youth to anonymously report crime through the tip
lines 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.222tips.com . My message is on any topic when I
speak to the youth. Internet safety, youth violence, guns and gangs, graffiti and relationship issues are
just a few of the topics that I engage youth in dialogue about with the intent on arming them with the
tools to make positive choices in their lives, and become successful citizens. Last year, the Toronto
Police Service hired 100 summer students to work alongside officers through the Youth in Policing
program. This program is going to continue this summer as well. In short, the Toronto Police Service
has a long history of working with youth in many ways, and are moving towards even more endeavours
to improve police-youth relations.

Gallery Crawl: Is the idea of connecting youth with communities an easy sell within the TPS, city
hall, and community stakeholders?

Constable Scott Mills: The ideas are abundant within the TPS, City Hall and throughout the
community. There are many visions held by many people, and many people and organizations are
doing great work. The bottom line is that the visions only work if someone is behind the visions driving
them into action. That often involves after hour commitments and weekends.... It comes down having
an activity that you enjoy as an adult, and the kids enjoy as kids. As the adult mentor, you

have to be willing to invest your personal time and energy. In my case, I love involving the youth in
street art, and don't mind spending the time and energy because the rewards far outweigh the
headaches. If you talk the talk, walk the walk.. The kids respect the people out there working for them
in the end.

Gallery Crawl: I've asked about the best of times in your job. What's the hard part?

Constable Scott Mills: The hardest part of the job is explaining what the youth want to the 'powers
that be'. Often times the corporate world does not understand what the youth really want. And the
youth don't understand what the corporate world wants and why. The hardest part for me is explaining
to the corporate world that kids don't come in a 'canned' format. Each kid is different, and is moved by
different activities. To engage the youth, the ideas have to come from the youth up to the mentors, not
from the corporate world down.

Gallery Crawl: Have your perceptions changed about your current role? If so, how and why?

Constable Scott Mills: No they haven't changed. I got into working in the schools for the kids, and am
still in this for the kids. It is watching the kids grow and learn from their community building
experiences that drive me. I would like to see the school police officer role more respected, and be a
sought after job within the police service. At present it is often perceived as a dead end career move. I
would like to change that perception...and I think we are getting somewhere with this. There is a
National Youth Officer strategy being fostered by the RCMP, and a similar provincial effort being led
by the OPP. Toronto Police Service have been very fortunate to be involved heavily in both of these

processes. I have a lot of hope for the future of positive relationship building between police officers
and youth for not only our city, but our whole country.

Gallery Crawl: I never thought I'd see the day when a police department got into the arts promotion
game. What does art have to do with enforcement and better communities?

Constable Scott Mills: The street art concept is a community building process. It takes a lot of effort
to do it right from start to finish. It can be summed up as 'restorative justice'. If the school police
officers, with the assistance of the school staff can identify a graffiti vandal in their school...why not
engage that youth in a process of going face to face with the property owner who he/she vandalized
instead of arresting him/her? The chances are that the same youth has some artistic talents that could
be used to create a legal mural that is accepted by the community...maybe even on the same garage
door that he/she vandalized. I have had instances where the property owner who was vandalized has
commissioned the vandal to paint a mural on their garage door. We have now used that youth's positive
creative energy to do a positive legal piece of art with the permission of the property owner. The
property owner is happy because that youth is not vandalizing his/her garage door any more, and is
telling his/her friends not to vandalize either because his/her own art work is now there and they are
proud of it. That same youth likes the police officer that investigated the whole thing because the
police officer did not arrest him, throw him/her in jail and throw away the key...but instead created a
legal opportunity for him/her that quite likely will lead to more legal opportunities.

Gallery Crawl: Art is part of your job. Do you consider yourself an artist in a way?

Constable Scott Mills: I wish I were an artist, but I don't have artistic talent.. My talents lie in bringing
people in the community together. If I can bring a young artist together with a property owner...and a
positive legal piece of art comes out of it...I end up calling that piece of art 'my kids' wall' My art work
is behind the scenes, in the networking. The pride of the kids working with propertyowners...turning a
negative into a positive is my 'creative license' !! Thanks for being interested Bill. Good luck with
your work.

Gallery Crawl: Thank you, Constable Scott Mills, for your good and inspiring mission.