Toronto police task force unveils plan to ‘redefine’ service

The 35-page report has 24 interim recommendations, including disbanding TAVIS and redesigning the divisional map.

Thestar.com
June 16, 2016
By Wendy Gillis

The Toronto Police Service and its civilian board have unveiled their joint proposals for “far-reaching” and “unprecedented” changes to how policing is delivered by Canada’s largest municipal police force - changes they claim go “well beyond the scope” of any other changes in the history of the force.

“We have the opportunity to redefine, revitalize, and modernize the service to achieve a new level of excellence and leadership,” says the 35-page report from the Transformational Task Force.

Co-chaired by Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders and police board chair Andy Pringle, the task force finds approximately $100 million in reductions and savings to the service’s operating budget over the next three years - $60 million of those savings coming from a three-year freeze be placed on hiring and promotions.

As the Star reported Wednesday, the task force also recommends the closure of some of Toronto’s 17 police divisions - boundary lines that have not been redrawn in decades, despite shifting populations and changing neighbourhoods.

Speaking to reporters at police headquarters Thursday, Saunders said that getting rid of divisional boundaries means the city will see “officers being where they need to be.”

“When you look at the analytics, the intelligence and information that we have, there is a swish that goes right through the city where most of the violent crimes are occurring. It doesn't make sense to have 17 pockets all over the place when we know that there are certain areas that things are happening at certain times.”

The report also places importance on a broader cultural shift through changes to training, hiring, partnerships with the community and greater emphasis on community-based policing, with officers embedded in neighbourhoods.

Recommendations include increased collaboration with academia to “further the professionalization of policing,” and the creation of an “innovation hub” to allow for ongoing professional improvement.

The report also acknowledges errors made by Toronto police in the past, including the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS) - which the task force recommends be disbanded.

“When implemented improperly, (TAVIS) impacted relationships and trust with a number of communities, as well as the service's reputation on larger scale,” the report states. “There were unintended impacts on communities, especially among racialized youth who felt unfairly targeted.”

Disbanding the TAVIS unit and redeploying officers to other service priorities. “This will allow the service to focus on sustainable investments in building safe neighbourhoods as well as increase the service's surge capacity to respond to extreme events.”

Other proposals include:

• Developing an alternate or shared delivery of court services and parking enforcement, and background screening.
• Transitioning officers from using mobile work stations in patrol vehicles to carrying smart devices, with improved technological capabilities.
• A phased-in redesign of the divisional map, starting with amalgamating midtown Toronto’s 54 and 55 Divisions. Between now and when it issues a final report, the task force will explore “similar options” for Divisions 12, 13, 33, 52 and 53.
• A “carefully managed” moratorium on hiring and promotions for officers and civilians over the next three years. The current complement of 5,200 uniformed officers would be reduced to 4,750 in three years. Civilian employees would be reduced to 1,850 from 2,220. On average, between 100 and 150 TPS employees retire or resign each year.
• Designing a more rigorous and performance management and evaluation process.
• The development of a 911 cost recovery fee that would recoup the costs of providing these services to all land and wireless telephone users.
• Overhauling paid duty so that off-duty officers are used in situations only where their “skills, authorities and training” are necessary.
• A “comprehensive culture change and human resources strategy.” The final report, expected this fall, will explore this more deeply.