Mark Saunders

In October 2017, Saunders had a kidney transplant surgery with his wife as the donor. Saunders was born with only one kidney and underwent nightly kidney dialysis at home for 15 months prior to the surgery. He stated that the family went public about the transplant in order to raise awareness of the organ donation program.

Mark Saunders OOM (born 1962) is a Canadian policing professional and the current Chief of Police of the Toronto Police Service. He was chosen on April 17, 2015, to succeed Bill Blair following Blair's retirement the following week. Saunders is the first Black Canadian to lead Toronto's police service and reportedly beat out deputy chief Peter Sloly for the position. He is only the second Black Canadian to head a police force in Canada, having been preceded by Devon Clunis of the Winnipeg Police Service in 2012.

Saunders began his policing career after graduating from high school. He has served with the Toronto Police for 35 years, rising to the position of deputy chief in charge of specialized operations command, before being appointed chief in 2015. He has had assignments with professional standards, urban street gang unit, intelligence division, drug squad, community safety command, and emergency task force, and served as the unit commander of the homicide squad.

Saunders was born in England to Jamaican parents. His family moved from England to Quebec, and in 1969, they settled in Milton, Ontario. He was a student council president while attending Milton District High School, and also attended W. I. Dick Middle School, J.M. Denyes School, and Martin Street Middle School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in justice studies from the University of Guelph-Humber.