That's all it will take (actually, $12 million more) according to Police Chief Myron Demkiw to keep chaos and blood from running in the streets of Toronto. Reeling from the effort of city council to trim $12 million from what some might say is an already bloated ask of $25 million for a total budget of $1.1 billion, the good chief is warning of slower response times and all manner of disaster if his demands are not fully met.
Clearly, the chief is engaging in fear tactics to get his way, despite the fact that increasing police budgets does not correlate with safer streets:
A recent University of Toronto-led study found no consistent relation between police funding and crime rates across 20 Canadian municipalities, including Hamilton and Toronto. Lead author Mélanie Seabrook said the key takeaway for legislators is to give community needs and priorities more consideration when setting budgets.
Brighter minds than I offer some strong suggestions about what the chief and his ilk can do with his demands:
Here we go again with all the ballyhoo about the police budget. What I would like to know is how much of the budget is slated to be paid to suspended officers who are sitting on their butts at home while collecting a full pay cheque? It is long overdue for the mayor to ask the powers to be to provide a complete breakdown of the monies paid out to suspended cops over the years and to ask how many inevitably had to leave the service yet walked away with thousands of unearned money from taxpayers. The police act is long overdue for an overhaul especially in these trying times when citizens cannot afford the basics of life.
I have said it before: if an officer is on paid leave, put their earnings into an interest generating trust account. He or she gets the money if they return to service, and if not, those funds are redirected to the police force. It is a simple solution to a long-standing problem.
Larry Snow, Oakville, Ont.
There was an interesting contrast of articles from columnist Edward Keenan and Police Chief Myron Demkiw regarding the police budget. What struck me was how the chief says how terrible things are in the service and somehow a loss of $12.6 million is a major threat to our safety. If the biggest city in the country is at risk of chaos due to the lack of $12.6 million it is time for the politicians to demand that a third-party independent forensic team review police service spending from top to bottom to see the truth of the matter.
Len Bulmer, Aurora, Ont.
Rather than attempting to intimidate the residents of Toronto by writing of facts without nuance, our police chief Myron Demkiw should be looking for the means to make his force more efficient and effective. I suggest Premier Doug Ford, who can always be counted on to have an interest in city spending, be brought in to rout out the waste in the police budget.
Peter Pinch, Toronto
Myron Demkiw, chief of the Toronto Police Service, is misleading us. He points out there are 1.4 million emergency calls to 911 a year, but does not say the majority of 911 calls do not involve violence and can be dealt with by community and social workers. He says that more officers equal less crime, but years of research has shown that the crime rate does not correlate to police spending in any consistent way.
Toronto is one of the safest cities in North America. The key to crime prevention is through reducing inequality. To reduce response times, we need better management of the 911 service, diversion of nonpolice calls and smarter deployment. But no, our police leadership doesn’t want to follow evidence. If they truly cared about our safety and well-being, they would support investment in stronger community and social supports. That is how we’ll get to a safer and thriving Toronto.
Anna Willats, Toronto
Lest you think this is solely a Toronto problem, my observation over the years is that city councils traditionally rubber-stamp increases requested by police services board. You can be certain that if this practice changes, you will hear even more fear-mongering from forces across the country.
