Toronto city council has voted in favour of a series of reforms that could alter the future of policing in the city, including the creation of a non-police response team for mental health calls, but the changes do not include a targeted reduction of the policing budget.
Toronto city council has voted in favour of a series of reforms that could alter the future of policing in the city, including the creation of a non-police response team for mental health calls and a mandate to require all officers to have body-worn cameras by 2021.
However, the changes do not include a targeted reduction of the policing budget.
Coun. Josh Matlow’s motion, backed by Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam, called for a 2021 police budget at least 10 per cent lower than what was approved this year and a reallocation of the savings toward community services. The motion failed by a vote of eight to 16.
Toronto Mayor John Tory’s motion requiring all officers to have body-worn cameras by Jan. 1 passed by a vote of 17-7. According to the Toronto Police Service, the project would cost between $2 and $3 million to start and up to $50 million over 10 years to implement.
Several councillors had asked for a 10 per cent reduction amid growing calls from the public to defund the police.
Tory said his proposed changes, introduced last week, will reduce systemic racism within the force. He said cutting the service by an “arbitrary” number was misguided.
“It is not the right way to go about getting real change, effective change, fair change, good change,” the mayor said. “I don’t want us to be focused on a number; I want us to be focused on making change that needs to be made.”
Council met from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday. The meeting continues on Tuesday. You can see the agenda here and watch the entire meeting online.
Matlow and Wong-Tam had been calling for a 10 per cent cut of the police budget. They argued — and city staff confirmed — that a 10 per cent cut would amount to about $150 million and could be put to better use by investing in community programs.
Council heard that such a cut would mean the loss of about 1,000 officers and could take years to implement because of collective bargaining agreements with the police union.
Crisis units for mental health calls
The mayor, meanwhile, had laid out his own plan to reform the force in a report, but it did not include an outright budget cut.
He said while his plan is not “the ultimate answer,” it will “set in motion a process that should bring about the kind of change at the pace of change that is needed in response to the people that have marched in the street.”
Council approved the report, introduced by Tory, that proposes the development of alternative service delivery models for community safety response and increased accountability.
