Seven newly-elected Toronto city councillors are calling for further investment in social services that address the root causes of crime following the approval of Mayor John Tory’s proposed $48.3 million increase to the Toronto police budget.
In a joint statement released Monday afternoon, the seven councillors voiced their support for the expansion of services such as community-led crisis response programs, but stopped short of opposing the police budget increase, which was unanimously passed on the same day by the Toronto Police Services Board.
That budget increase is expected to pay for the hiring of an additional 200 police officers.
“Everyone in our city deserves to feel safe. A collaborative partnership between the City of Toronto, the Toronto Police Services, and residents is an important part of this,” the statement read.
“However, for too long, governments have prioritized enforcement over addressing the root causes of crime and violence: poverty, discrimination, lack of opportunities, underinvestment, and inequality.”
The seven councillors who signed the statement are Amber Morley, Ward 3 Etobicoke-Lakeshore, Alejandra Bravo, Ward 9 Davenport, Ausma Malik, Ward 10 Spadina-Fork York, Dianne Saxe, Ward 11 University-Rosedale, Chris Moise, Ward 13 Toronto Centre, Lily Cheng, Ward 18 Willowdale and Jamaal Myers, Ward 23 Scarborough North.
Cheng is a member of the Toronto Police Services Board and voted in favour of the budget increase on Monday.
Although the seven councillors didn’t concretely voice opposition to the budget increase, they did say that “decades of research and evidence has shown that increasing police spending without simultaneous investments in social and community infrastructure does not make our communities safer.”
“For more than 40 years, solutions and recommendations have been presented, offering tangible actions and social investments necessary to truly create a safe city,” the statement read.
“These solutions have been proven in other jurisdictions, and many additional programs have shown promise right here in Toronto.”
One of those solutions, says Malik, is the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS), which provides an “alternate approach to responding to someone in crisis that focuses on health, prevention and well-being,” eliminating the need for traditional police enforcement.
Malik says the program, which is in its pilot stage in four areas of the city, has been successful so far and should be expanded.
“One of the big initiatives that we have invested in in Toronto is the TCCS, and it has been successful in its pilot areas in taking a community-based approach to responding to mental health crises without involving police,” Malik told CP24.com
“And one of the big commitments that I'm looking forward to and that I've been advocating for is to be able to expand a program like that to every neighbourhood in Toronto to be able to create a safer city.”
Malik said without parallel investments to these types of services, the increased police budget as it stands is “not necessarily what's going to make people safer.”
Morley told CP24 on Monday that “Torontonians understand that there are direct connections between the resources we have access to and our ability to be well, and so we want to ensure that as many Torontonians as possible have accesses to the resources and support that they require.”
Morley also stressed the need to invest in a multifaceted approach to improving community safety.
“We on council, in addition to supporting our police services, understand that we can't police our way to committee safety,” Morley said.
“We've talked in the past and the mayor has highlighted a need for a three-legged-stool so to speak, which is a multifaceted approach, including ensuring that our critical social services and things like housing options for example, out of the cold programs, warming centers, that they are a critical part of how we're responding to need and responding to community safety and community health.”
Along with the additional 200 officers added to the force, Tory’s police budget increase will include an additional $2 million for youth and families, allocated to anti-violence programming to address the roots of violence and build on existing programming to support youth supports including employment.
Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw said the nearly $50 million increase was also necessary to improve response times.
A June 2022 report by the city’s auditor general, Beverly Romeo-Beehler, found that response times to all calls were increasing and service levels were not keeping up with demand.
Malik says that investing in alternative social programs will help to improve police response times, as it frees up officers to respond to incidents of crime and violence rather than mental health and crisis calls that can be dealt with by trained support workers.
“If we're able to fund and see that evidence and make those investments, there's so much more that we can do in terms of being able to address the concerns that are being raised in our communities, and to make sure that police are doing the work that only they can do,” she said.
The statement signed by the seven councillors goes on to say that investment in things like “affordable housing, mental health services and good jobs” will also help to create safer communities within the city, and that these types of investments need to be made as soon as possible.
“Now is the time for real investments that make our city more affordable, accessible, and safer for everyone,” the statement read.
“Toronto can’t wait any longer.”
-With files from CTV News Toronto's Phil Tsekouras
