Safe Streets, Tough Choices — 23rd Century Policing in Toronto

Everyone agrees we need to be tough on crime — but saying it and doing something about it are two different things.

In today’s challenging economy we need leaders who have the knowledge and experience to make the tough decisions and the smart choices that will keep our children, our families, and our communities safe.

My goal as Councillor is to make certain we have the best-trained, best-equipped and best-paid police officers in the GTA, and a department that engages the community as a respected partner in keeping all of the citizens of Toronto safe.

To that end, I will fight for the Toronto Police Service’s budget.

As your Councillor, I will do everything in my power to maintain and, if possible, increase the Police budget without raising taxes — a difficult but necessary balancing act.

I am up for that challenge.

I believe in fiscal responsibility, using tough audits to cut millions of dollars in fraud and waste.

I will seek budgetary concessions from my fellow Council members in order to use the savings to create funding priorities like police, firefighters, after-school programs and economic development for our community.

With the recent murders on our streets in St Paul’s so much is at stake. I will fight to add more Police officers to the force and in our neighbourhoods — on foot, bicycles, scooters, motorbikes and horses.

How many police officers are enough? My bottom line is that Toronto needs what it takes to keep us safe.

Determining just how many officers are needed is challenging. First and foremost, consideration must be given toward identifying the needs of the community, which will help determine what type of services should take precedence and how that work should be performed.

I will also work with our Police Chief and Division Commanders to ensure that as many Officers are out on the street as possible – even if that requires restoring overtime dollars. It also means putting more civilians in technical or clerical jobs, and making sure our sworn Officers are in direct law enforcement positions.

I will ask the Police Service Board to appoint a Police Chief who is an innovative thinker and has the respect of the rank-and-file Officers, as well as a comprehensive knowledge of the community.

Because public safety is essential to all aspects of our every-day lives, we need a Police Chief who understands our neighbourhoods and communities, and has his or her finger on the pulse of the City.

The City must invest in our own Police helicopters. Borrowing from the York and Durham Region forces is not acceptable for a city this size, and the capital of Ontario. This tool has been invaluable to the Police forces to the north and to the east of Toronto.

But the obstacles to improving policing in Toronto are less about a lack of technology and money — they more about lack of leadership and realistic priorities.

I will step up our efforts to fight thugs, gangs in our schools and in our neighbourhoods, as well as the prostitution and graffiti that have taken over mid-town Toronto and St. Paul’s.

One of the best arguments for improved coordination among law enforcement agencies is the need to do more to fight gangs. Gangs do not stop at the schoolyard gate, yet our various Police agencies too often see that as a boundary.

Resolving youth violence, and gang membership, and focusing on providing life skills to students to help them avoid using delinquent behaviour and violence to solve problems, are vital components of this battle. The longer Officers are present within schools, the more apt they are to become role models.

Effective gang prevention and investigation is a manpower issue that must be balanced against handling calls for service, maintaining response times, traffic enforcement, mobility, investigating non-gang crimes, and maintaining visibility in hopes of preventing crime.

Prevention, of course, is the ultimate key. The hallmarks of neighbourhood-oriented policing are community engagement and creative problem solving. In addition to their traditional role of arresting suspects after the commission of a crime, Police Officers need to work closely with neighbourhood civic associations, business associations, neighbourhood representatives and others to identify and address crime issues, with the focus on preventing the crimes before they happen.

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