海角社区官网

The “cornerstone” of the proposed budget is the force鈥檚 five-year hiring plan, aimed at fixing what the city鈥檚 budget chief called a 鈥渨holly inadequate ratio of officers to population.” If approved, the plan would see 109 new officers onboarded next year alone.

About 90 per cent of the service鈥檚 operating budget goes to the salaries and benefits of the service鈥檚 8,000 employees. The amount requested stands to increase when a ruling comes down on contract negotiations between the union and board.

Speaking at a November board meeting, Coun. Shelley Carroll said more officers were needed to tackle a rise in hate crimes and violent carjackings, as well as address organizational goals like reform measures.

Carjackings have plagued the 海角社区官网Police Service this year. As of October, the service had recorded a 46 per cent annual increase in incidents. Hate crimes are also up, with the service reporting a near 50 per cent annual increase halfway through 2024.

The force needs more cops on Toronto鈥檚 streets, especially as the population grows, Coun. Shelley Carroll told the police board last month.

鈥淭here鈥檚 all sorts of re-tasking we can do, and reform we can do. But at the end of the day, you actually need the bodies to even achieve reform. We don鈥檛 even have enough bodies to do that,鈥� she said.

If approved, the budget will also aim to reduce 911 response times.听

As of the spring, the average response time in the city was 18 minutes. While much higher than the recognized standard of six minutes, the figure marks a decrease over 2023’s average wait time of 22 minutes.

According to the service, the response times is in part attributed to a 16 per cent decrease in officer-to-civilian ratio over the last decade, another factor cited by the service in asking for more money for staffing.

More than two dozen members of the public made deputations during Thursday鈥檚 meeting, alongside thirteen written submissions to the board.

Many who opposed the budget urged the city to reinvest the funds in social services, to address the root causes of crime.听Among them was former mayor John Sewell, who addressed the board virtually on behalf of the 海角社区官网Police Accountability Coalition, urging them to scrap the increase altogether.

鈥淚 think the big problem that most people are concerned about in 海角社区官网is the amount of disorder that they come across on the streets and in public transit,鈥� Sewell told the board. 鈥渁nd I think that if we have $100 million to spend, most people would say let’s spend it on the community services that are actually going to reduce the amount of disorder.鈥�

Those who supported the increase, or called for a larger one, said the service needs the additional resources, citing violence and hate crimes, among other safety concerns.

鈥淎dding to this,鈥� said resident Matthew Taub during his deputation, 鈥渁re the ongoing (..) protests on our streets, which require substantial police resources to manage, are diverting officers, and costing roughly what we’re asking for (as in increase).鈥�

The proposed police budget must still go through city council for approval at a session on Toronto鈥檚 overall budget for next year. By then, the city budget may include contingencies for police salary increases. The current collective agreement for the police union ends on Dec. 31, meaning negotiations between the board and union may see a bigger budget request brought before city council next year.

海角社区官网Police Association spokesperson Meaghan Gray told the Star that the union expects to present its proposals to the board at the end of January, with bargaining tentatively set for late February. Chow has until Feb. 1 to present the annual budget to council.

With files from Calvi Leon and Wendy Gillis