As a year plagued by gun violence and a spike in murders winds down, the city’s top cop vows “big” changes are coming in the new year.

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders says recommendations made earlier this year by the Transformational Task Force — aimed at modernizing the service — should start to be implemented by the end of January.

“These are really big leaps we are taking,” Saunders told the Toronto Sun Friday, promising the public will notice “visible” changes to how the city is policed in 2017.

Among the changes, officers will focus on priority calls rather than be bogged down by incidents where they are not needed and they will be “connected” via electronic memo books, he explained.

“It’s a daunting task, but I think it’s going to be exciting,” Saunders said.

Instead of returning to the station to file redundant reports, he said officers will be able to remain in the field longer, allowing them to build trust with the public — keyto gathering information about violent crimes.

So far this year, there has been a 41% increase in shooting occurrences in the city from 2015, murders are up 25% and gun deaths have jumped 52%.

“We’ve seized over 900 firearms this year,” Saunders said.

And while the chief admitted the rise in gun violence is “a concern,” he said the numbers are still “low” for a city of 2.8 million people.

Toronto’s murder tally is the highest it’s been in eight years, but noted the number of homicides is consistent with what the city endured from 2005 to 2008.

“Next year we’re going to have to revise our playbook a little bit,” Saunders said. “We are looking at how we can be more resourceful with our assets, how we can have stronger intelligence led components.”

“I really do think that the Toronto Police Service is moving in the right direction,” he added.

On cancelling new dark grey cruisers amid public concern:

“As we started to roll them out, the story started to intensify (in the media) and it was basically causing a distraction. I remember my officers made a great arrest for a homicide and the story above it was grey cars. I don’t want to distract from the brilliant work my men and women are doing. So I’ve (decided) to remove that distraction and go back to the drawing board ... But this time there will obviously be more consultation on it and we’ll figure out where we go from here.”

Saunders on the 77 road fatalities so far this year, up from 65 in 2015:

“Over 65% of our pedestrian fatalities are 65 and older. And 50% of those fatalities are people crossing mid-block, where vehicles are moving the fastest. We’re working with the city and in the near future we’ll be developing campaigns to reach out to that particular demographic to talk about pedestrian safety. Pedestrians and drivers have to be aware of their environment. We all have to learn how to share the roadways.”

The chief on the controversial pot dispensary crackdown:

“Dispensaries are simply not legal right now. There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to the issues on pot. But the most simplistic thing is if Health Canada has not given you a licence, then you are selling illegally. You don’t know where (the marijuana) is coming from ... and consumers have no idea what they’re ingesting.”

The chief on an upcoming pilot project to test roadside equipment used to detect drug-impaired motorists:

“Any driver we are in contact with that is part of this program is on a voluntary basis. That means no charges can be laid. The big concern is when marijuana does get legalized, how will we detect people impaired by drugs? So now the science is coming into play and we’re testing products with the saliva test. “Hopefully at the end of the day, sooner than later, there will be really good products that will help us test not just for marijuana but also (other drugs).”

— Chris Doucette

cdoucette@postmedia.com