Police issued about 100,000 fewer parking tickets in 2018 amid staffing shortages in the Parking Enforcement Unit.
A report that will go before the Toronto Police Services board today reveals that there were 2,045, 498 parking tickets issued in 2018, down 101,370 from the number of tickets issued in 2017 and more than 222,000 from the number of tickets issued in 2016.
The report attributes the drop in the number of tickets issued, in part, to staffing shortages in the Parking Enforcement Unit, which it says was “understaffed for the entire year” in 2018.
“Throughout 2016 and 2017, there was no hiring of new PEOs due to a moratorium on hiring. This has resulted in lower staffing levels as a result of continued staff attrition and separations. In turn, this has had a significant impact on PEU deployment, service delivery and related enforcement/ticket issuance,” the report states.
The report says that the Parking Enforcement Unit commenced hiring in May, 2018 and met its hiring goals in December, 2018, which positioned the unit “at or near” full strength.
The report, however says that there is a still need to hire additional parking enforcement officers in order to ensure that expected staff attrition in the coming year does not impact parking enforcement.
It says that the need for additional hires also takes on an added urgency this year with the Toronto Police Service planning to hire about 800 more people, including 300 uniformed officers, some of whom will likely come from the Parking Enforcement Unit.
“The PEU is in the process to return to its historic staffing strategy since recent TPS hiring initiatives have accelerated PEO separations. TPS hiring initiatives have led the PEU to become one of the recruiting grounds for other areas of the Service including Constable, Special Constable, Court Officer, Communications, and civilian support,” the report notes.
In addition to the more than two million tickets issued in 2018, members of the Parking Enforcement Unit also towed 27,766 vehicles and relocated another 1,932 vehicles to assist with snow removal and TTC closures.
The report says that parking enforcement officers also located 901 stolen vehicles.
