Community Safety in the 2024 Budget

Today at City Council, I supported a budget that invests in critical City services and investments that get the city back on track. Read more about how this budget funds necessary investments into the social and community infrastructure that advances community safety and well-being.

Today at City Council, I supported a budget that invests in critical City services and investments that get the city back on track.

At the February City Council Budget meeting on February 14, 2024, I supported the Mayor’s proposed budget, including significant investment in services and programs that contribute to community safety including increased funding for new affordable housing units, more support for renters to prevent evictions, drop-in centres, transit service, library access, youth programming, expansion of the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS), and hundreds of new emergency services staff. To support this work, Mayor Chow has secured hundreds of millions through partnerships with the Provincial and Federal governments.

I also supported an increase to the Toronto Police Service operating budget by $12.6M. I appreciate that this decision will come as a surprise to many – it is a decision that I did not make lightly, and one that I only made after significant consultation with community and advocacy organizations, my colleagues on Council and the Toronto Police Service Board (TPSB), City and TPS Finance Staff, and residents I represent across Etobicoke-Lakeshore. 

Since taking office, Mayor Chow has been having promising conversations with the Federal and Provincial governments about the unique costs of policing in Toronto, which include increased auto thefts, hosting large local, national and international events, and nearly 100 consulates. While this budget increase will be funded from the Budget Bridging and Balancing Reserve today, this amount will be fully or partially replenished through Federal or Provincial funding for these unique and emergent safety priorities. Knowing the Federal and Provincial governments will step up to support Toronto’s unique policing needs has allowed City Council to support this motion to provide an additional allocation to the Toronto Police Services Budget that will match the request of the Toronto Police Services Board.

City Council also called on Toronto Police Services Board to work in partnership with the Toronto Police Service to provide a multi-year staffing plan with associated investment needed.

One important condition I brought forward at the City Council Budget meeting as it relates to police funding was to request the Toronto Police Services Board work in partnership with the Toronto Police Service to provide a multi-year staffing plan with associated investment needed. This plan will set specific and detailed targets with clear goals and timetables to:

  • reduce officer response times,

  • increase the number of available frontline officers,

  • increase the number of Neighbourhood Officers, and

  • recruit women and gender diverse officers.

This staffing plan will be used as a basis for City Council, the Chief and Toronto Police Services to continue to advocate to the provincial and federal government for funding that acknowledges Toronto Police Service’s unique responsibilities to protect Canada’s largest municipality.

This request also calls on the Toronto Police Services Board to commit to joint efforts to ensure accountability to the public that delivers the outcomes City Council’s investments are intended to produce, and that members appointed by City Council to the Toronto Police Services Board to commit to that mandate, as a part of their role as City appointees.

I made the decision with these considerations:

  • Funding will not impact the delivery of City services + programs – because this money is re-allocated from the Budget Bridging and Balancing Reserve, and expected to be reimbursed fully or partly by funding from the Provincial and Federal governments, this will not compromise our ability to deliver the vision for City services that the Mayor put forward in her budget.

  • Clear expectations for the results we expect to see from this investment – this year’s funding is tied to purposeful and meaningful work to advance transparency, good governance and meeting shared objectives of operational efficiencies, including a long-term staffing plan that aligns with SafeTO objectives. 

  • Lasting change in alternatives to policing takes time and resources – The Auditor General’s 2022 report “Review of Toronto Police Service – Opportunities to Support More Effective Responses to Calls for Service states that, “based on our results, a transfer or “lift and shift” in funding from TPS to the City for these alternative non-police responses…is currently not possible, and it is not enough. Until the alternative responses are effective and available when needed, PRU [Priority Response Unit] officers may still be required to attend these calls for service.”


It will take time to see the results of our investments in youth programming, housing and shelter, transit, and more. It will take time to expand the TCCS City-wide and structurally shift responsibilities from police to City staff and community organizations. It will take time and dedicated resources to measure and iterate on new ways of working collaboratively, and to advocate to other levels of government for the legislative changes we need to see.

The 2024 budget includes necessary investments into the social and community infrastructure that advances community safety and well-being. 

To promote community safety, we are investing in both people and prevention. The 2024 budget includes necessary investments into the social and community infrastructure that creates the conditions for community safety and well-being. We know that investments that increase access to safe and affordable housing, human-centered mental health services, reliable transit, a robust library system, and community programs for young people all create pathways towards opportunity and diversion away from crime. Investments in social infrastructure address the root causes of crime and safety. These investments are guided by the City of Toronto’s SafeTO strategy, adopted by City Council in 2022. At the heart of the SafeTO plan is strategic investments to address the root causes of safety and well-being.

I am reiterating my commitment to continuing to work closely and intentionally with the Toronto Police Services Board, alongside other City divisions and emergency response teams to relieve pressures on policing in Toronto.

It will take intentional, continued collaboration between Toronto Police Service, City divisions, community organizations, and Toronto residents over many years to deliver on our community safety goals. As a member of the Toronto Police Services Board and the Budget Committee, I am reiterating my commitment to pragmatically advancing this work, strengthening relationships, and continuing to work closely and intentionally with the Toronto Police Services Board, alongside other city divisions and emergency response teams to relieve pressures on policing in Toronto. 

This deep policy work at the Toronto Police Services Board will be informed by and draw upon a significant amount of work done to date. This includes:

  • In January 2017, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) released The Way Forward – their action plan to modernize community safety.

    The Way Forward sets goals to:

    • Be where the public needs the Service the most

    • Embrace partnerships to create safe communities

    • Focus on the complex needs of a large city

    This strategy charts a vision for community safety through an efficient and effective Service where police officers are trusted partners focused on duties that only they can carry out. Some recommended actions include building better relationships with communities through the Neighbourhood Officer Program, diverting calls that don’t require police presence, developing a new public safety response team, and ensuring fewer paid duty assignments.

  • In January 2021, the Toronto Neighbourhood Centres and community partners released Reimagining Community Safety – their report outlining challenges and opportunities with the current model of policing.

    Reimagining Community Safety identifies some of the key challenges with the current policing model, and opportunities for investment in more effective interventions, including the following areas for immediate action:

    • Homelessness – Supporting and housing people who need homes

    • Mental Health – Introducing a civilian-led mental health crisis response

    • Youth – Supporting youth through community-based programming to create stable relationships and proactively link together services and supports

    • Gender-based Violence – Moving towards an approach that is survivor-centred and community-based to provide survivors with a comprehensive and enduring network of support

    • 9-1-1 Dispatch – Reallocating more non-police calls to 2-1-1 and 3-1-1

  • In July 2021, City Council approved SafeTO – the City’s ten-year community safety and well-being plan.

    Through SafeTO, the City expanded its definition of community safety beyond crime and policing to recognize the complexity of community safety challenges and the need to respond with multi-sector approaches that emphasize social development and prevention. This strategy identifies 26 priority actions across 7 goals.

    One of these priority actions is to embed the Community Crisis Support Service as a well-resourced, first response service City-wide. In March 2022, the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS) launched a 24/7 service to provide a community-based, client-centred, trauma-informed, non-police led response to people experiencing mental health crisis and wellness checks. In November 2023, City Council approved expansion of TCCS City-wide.

  • In June 2022, the Auditor General released “Review of Toronto Police Service – Opportunities to Support More Effective Responses to Calls for Service” summarizing their review of opportunities to support more effective TPS responses to calls for service.

    At the request of the Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB), the Auditor General reviewed the TPS’s responsibilities and service areas to identify opportunities for improving efficiency and effectiveness and potential alternative responses to calls for service. This report estimated that 85,000 hours over 5 years of Priority Response Unit (PRU) officer time could be reallocated if alternative responses were in place at the times needed.

    This report identifies specific recommendations, including opportunities for more accurate data collection and analysis, better information sharing and collaboration, changes to Provincial legislation, and more. This report advises that shifting to non-police responses will require a strategy of gradual transition, with the shared goal to improve outcomes for the people of Toronto.

  • On February 1, 2024, Mayor Chow released her proposed 2024 Budget, with significant investments in community safety and well-being.

    The Mayor’s proposed budget takes into account significant consultation with Toronto residents and the advice of Budget Committee, and includes investment to:

    • Support the delivery of 24,500 new homes, and an additional 1,296 rent-geared-to-income units,

    • Support creation of permanent affordable homes owned by non-profit and Indigenous housing organizations, including community land trusts through a $100 million dollar investment, over three years, in the Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition program (MURA),

    • Support renters through increased investment in the Eviction Prevention in Community program, more inspectors to uphold housing standards for RentSafeTO, and more funding for both the Rent Bank and Tenant Support Program,

    • Increase funding for 22 City-supported drop-in centres that provide services including food, healthcare, laundry, and referrals to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness,

    • Freeze TTC fares and increase service levels,

    • Increase access to community-driven, locally-developed youth programming for priority neighbourhoods,

    • Increase open hours at some Toronto Public Library (TPL) branches, and fund three additional TPL Youth Hubs,

    • Expand community grants through the Community Partnership and Investment Program focused on building strong neighbourhoods and youth violence prevention in priority neighbourhoods,

    • Fully fund the new, fourth emergency service – the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS), and

    • Increase emergency service staffing with hundreds more firefighters, paramedics and support staff, and police officers and civilian staff.

In order to advance community safety, we need to invest in both people and prevention.

I am fully committed to the health, safety and well-being of all residents. While these are not easy decisions, I believe this is a pragmatic and collaborative approach that – through on-going work at the Toronto Police Service Board guided by SafeTO principles – will strengthen accountability and transparency, and deliver meaningful change that takes a holistic community safety approach.

Yours in community service,

Councillor Amber Morley
Ward 3, Etobicoke-Lakeshore


UPDATE:

On February 27, 2024, I hosted a Community Safety Town Hall for Etobicoke-Lakeshore residents to hear and discuss local concerns. The slides from this event are available here:

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