TORONTO -- Toronto police are freeing up resources this summer in the hopes of being better able to respond to public violence in the wake of recent shootings that have stirred fears over gunplay in city streets.
The "summer safety initiative" announced Thursday will see officers take on compulsory overtime shifts for a period stretching from August to the first week of September.
That will free up to 329 more officers each day for dispatch to communities at risk of gangs and gun violence, police Chief Bill Blair said.
"We are asking all of our people to step up on this one," he said.
Officers will add an extra two hours to their usual shifts beginning with the end of the long weekend on Aug. 6 and running until Sept. 9, a period Blair said is traditionally a busy one for police.
Blair said the move will let police better patrol areas flagged as potential trouble zones.
He would not name the communities, but said they will be determined through police statistical analysis and intelligence gathering.
He said the policing strategy was crafted in "partnership" with communities with a history of high levels of violent crime.
"Our intent is not to overpolice our communities, our intent is to overprotect them," he said.
Rejigging the officers' schedules will draw an extra $2 million from the existing police budget, Blair estimated.
"If we can prevent even a single murder, even a single shooting, even a single violent occurrence (then) it's worth the investment."
The police force is currently undergoing a two-year hiring freeze and has 175 fewer officers since the year started, Blair noted.
An additional 456 officers will be freed up to patrol the city's downtown core during next weekend's Caribbean Carnival parade.
African-Canadian community leaders who were at the announcement called on people living in targeted areas not to turn their backs on the bumped-up police presence.
"Take the lead in beginning the dialogue. Work with them, even if you feel that they have let you down in the past," said Sharon Shelton, executive director of Tropicana Community Services in east Toronto.
"We expect that the officers will conduct themselves in a manner that is respectful of community members."
The police summer plan comes after a shooting last week at a barbecue in the city's east end killed two people and injured more than 20 others, sparking concerns over gunplay in public places.
The strategy aims to quicken the police response to such incidents.
Deputy Chief Peter Sloly said the additional officers will be able to move "borderlessly" between divisions when called to an outbreak of violence, or the heightened potential of one.
"If there's a problem somewhere in the city...these extra resources can be moved anywhere, any time in the city that requires it," he said.
Sloly said 200 community programs run by police will also continue.
The announcement comes just days after Blair met with Mayor Rob Ford and Premier Dalton McGuinty to discuss what can be done to prevent more gun violence.
Ford asked for the meeting after the east-end mass shooting on Danzig Street.
Blair said the shooting created a "great fear" in the city.
"Our responsibility is to respond to that fear," he said.
The city was hit by two other deadly public shootings in the weeks before -- one at the Eaton Centre shopping mall and another on a crowded patio in the Little Italy neighbourhood.
This week's talks led the province to pledge $12.5 million in permanent funding for anti-violence programs. But the mayor's request for up to $10 million from the province to hire extra police wasn't granted.
