Half of Toronto police workforce earned $100,000 last year
Police board seeks a ‘thorough review’ of publicly reported salaries, which for the first time include income from off-duty work.

thestar.com
March 16, 2015
By Betsy Powell

A Toronto police constable who earned $244,000 in 2014 - more than double his base salary - is one of 4,125 police staff members who were paid more than $100,000 last year.

Only outgoing Chief Bill Blair, who collected $349,259, made more than Const. Abdulhameed Virani, a veteran officer assigned to downtown Toronto’s busy 52 Division.

“He’s a man driven to work,” said a fellow officer who has worked with Virani but asked not to be named.

For years, Virani’s name has appeared near the top of the Toronto Police Service’s annual salary list, which the force is required to release under the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act. The legislation was passed in 1996 to make Ontario’s public sector more open and accountable to taxpayers.

But this year, Virani moved into the second highest spot after the civilian police oversight board for the first time released figures that include what the force’s nearly 8,000 employees actually earned in 2014 when money paid for off-duty work was factored in.

In 2013, a total of 2,983 TPS employees made six figures.

For the 2014 reporting year, 544 additional TPS employees were added to the disclosure list because of paid duty earnings. On their own time, Toronto police officers perform paid-duty assignments that can range from standing guard near a construction or roadwork site to patrolling sporting and special events, such as street festivals.

And next year, when 2015’s tally for TPS salaries is released, it will swell even further. The province has already allocated $64.9 million for the Toronto Police Service to pay for security costs connected to this summer’s Pan Am Games in Toronto, staffed mainly “by off-duty personnel with provisions for the use of on-duty and specialized resources where appropriate,” according to a police agenda released Monday.

Last year, Toronto officers earned an additional $27.1 million in paid duty work. The current rate for a paid-duty officer is $68 per hour, at a minimum of three hours, for $204.

The board, which is responsible for negotiating the collective agreement, took the unusual step Monday of issuing a statement saying it has asked Blair to undertake a “thorough review” of salaries and the paid-duty program. Salaries make up 89 per cent of the force’s $1.15-billion budget.

“There are (a) number of Toronto Police Service employees who earned more than 50 per cent of their base salary income in overtime, etc.,” said the statement. “It is hoped that the report requested from the chief will provide an objective explanation for this phenomenon.”

Critics say previous calls for such reviews have resulted in no meaningful changes.

Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack, who opposed the inclusion of paid-duty earnings in the salary list, accused the board of using it as a “political document” to stoke public resentment during ongoing contract negotiations. He also called the list “irrelevant” because it hasn’t been indexed to the rate of inflation.

Mayor John Tory, one of seven members on the civilian oversight board, said he endorses a review of compensation and is curious how some TPS employees are earning double their salaries in overtime and other costs.

“That doesn’t seem appropriate, but we’ll find out what the facts are behind that,” Tory said at city hall.

Tory also said he supports looking at whether all paid-duty work is really required.

The fellow officer who commented on Virani said the high earner has “personal reasons” for wanting to “sacrifice” so many days of his own time to make more money. But he also has some of the highest numbers for bylaw enforcement and writing traffic tickets, which generates revenue for the city and boosts his court overtime pay.

“It’s a personal choice for him to work that much. Does command need to look into maximum hours officers are allowed to work for health and safety reasons? Maybe that’s something they need to look at,” the officer said.

The current base salary of a constable is between $88,844 and $96,846, plus benefits. The TPS has 5,300 uniform officers and 2,400 civilian employees.