The first salvos for the negotiations in bargaining for the Police Association contract have been fired. At the same time, the Police Services Board has presented an $800m plus annual budget. These news stories mean you and I each will pay well over $300 next year in our taxes for Police services, a figure that’s risen from about $230 in 2000.  Policing is by far the largest City operating budget, and has the potential to overwhelm consideration on other municipal endeavors.

 

With so much at stake, the effectiveness, efficiency and direction of our Police are vital issues.

 

In terms of effectiveness, Torontonians should be pleased. Compared to other Canadian cities Toronto’s crime rates are low. Our statistics are even used as a target for Vancouver’s police department.

 

Measuring the efficiency of our Police takes some interpretation.  Within the context of officers in fifteen other Ontario municipalities, each Toronto officer handles about the same number of cases as his or her colleagues elsewhere. However the success rate in clearing youth crime, violent crime and other non-traffic criminal code incidents ranks either second or third lowest. To compound the problem, Toronto’s clearance rates have been decreasing.

 

To be fair Toronto’s Police undertake many activities not found in smaller cities.  Front line policing is required for huge events such as Caribana and the Gay Pride parade, security is required for the court system, and officers try to maintain some semblance of order during the weekends in the entertainment district.  Further resources are invested in a number of specialized units not usually found elsewhere in Ontario.

 

While it’s relatively straightforward to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of our Police, pinning down its direction is difficult. It is doubly so since the Police Board seems to have little intention of working through a strategic vision and plan.

 

It’s important not to confuse setting overall direction with the bookshelves of plans put out by the Police. There’s an environmental scan, a business plan and even a Human Resources Strategic Plan. 

 

But not since before amalgamation has the Police Services Board engaged the public by going through the vital process of trying to define policing for our City. Since that time there have been tremendous changes in demographics, political structure and technology. 

 

As much as the Police Services Board does a credible job in making itself open to examination – even to the extent of posting the Police operating budget online – there is nothing to replace a current statement of priorities and direction that has been through a vigorous process.

 

A strategic plan is the basic policy and priority setting framework. It’s not a budgeting document. It’s not written by the Chief of Police or his staff, but by the Board after a public process.

 

Current polls show that the public is satisfied with its policing, and some argue that there is neither the need nor funds for the luxury of planning. In fact, the timing could not be better. Engaging the public will improve confidence in both policing and our criminal justice system. Establishing a direction for the future during a period of relative satisfaction will allow incremental adaption to the future that will not be threatening to either the public or Police Service.

 

We all get the policing we deserve. Toronto has low crime rates, a force that is below average in clearing crime, and a service that provides the additional services required for a large city. What’s missing is a roadmap for on what type of policing we want for our future.

 

With so much at stake, it’s a project that shouldn’t be postponed.