Toronto police seeking $46.2M-budget increase

The Toronto Police Service is asking for a 3.9 per cent budget increase for 2025, which amounts to a $46.2 million rise over last year's budget. 

That puts the board's net operating budget at just over $1.2 billion.

As part of the budget request documents set to go before the police board next week, police Chief Myron Demkiw wrote that the increase would allow a multi-year hiring plan to continue.

"This budget allows the Service to continue its commitment towards police reform, modernization, and organizational wellbeing, while working towards achieving a community safety and wellbeing vision," Demkiw wrote. 

"This budget was achievable through several cost containment, cost recovery, and bridging mechanisms."

CBC Toronto requested an interview with Demkiw Thursday, but a police spokesperson said the chief wouldn't be speaking about the proposal until next Thursday's board meeting.

If approved by the police board, the budget will then be presented at Toronto City Council for consideration as part of the city's budget process for 2025, which is expected early in the new year.

Mayor, councillors don't expect repeat battle over budget

Last year's budget process was contentious, culminating with Mayor Olivia Chow backtracking on a city staff-recommended $7.4-million increase for police in lieu of the force's initial $20 million request.

Chow said at the time that decision was based on funding assistance from the federal and provincial governments.

"Last year was a bit of drama, because there was no plan as to how many officers would be hired," Chow told reporters at city hall Thursday. She says this year will be different because of the hiring plan attached to the proposal. 

"In order to have stability and predictability of the number of officers that you have each year, you have to have a plan."

The budget increase would pay for the hiring of 109 officers in 2025, according to TPS. 

The majority of the Toronto police operating budget, about 90 per cent, goes toward salaries and benefits.

Coun. Shelley Carroll, who was placed on the police board by Chow after last year's fierce debate, told reporters that the police budget request was coming in on the target set by the city's chief financial officer, and about $28 million of the requested increase would fund cost-of-living increases.

Policing costs rising in other jurisdictions

Rising police budgets are becoming a common theme in cities across the province and the country, Carroll said.

In Ontario, the province has proposed $77 million in funding to help municipalities cover the rising costs of paying for Ontario Provincial Police service. Next door to Toronto, Peel and Durham police are asking for larger increases than TPS, roughly 20 and 10 per cent respectively. 

"What Toronto Police Service is asking for compared to other jurisdictions, it's actually pretty small," said Clayton Campbell, president of the Toronto Police Association.

Coun. Brad Bradford said Thursday he believes the increase is needed to ensure the service has enough officers to adequately serve the city's growing population.

"Community safety has to be one of the top priorities here at city hall," he said.

Slow police response times to emergency calls were a contentious issue during last year's budget debate. Chief Demkiw said at the time police needed more resources to respond more quickly to emergencies, saying response times were as high as 20 minutes in some cases for top priority calls.

Coun. Carroll said Thursday that response times did go down over the past year, though she didn't provide any figures. Coun. Gord Perks said he's still waiting on evidence of that, and he'd like to see it before voting on another increase.

"I need to take a good look and make sure we're not just hiring police officers for the sake of hiring police officers," Perks said.

Police contract negotiations in arbitration

The budget request comes at a time when the Toronto Police Association is negotiating a new contract with the police board. Negotiations broke down earlier this year and the dispute has gone to third party arbitration, with a decision expected in the new year, according to TPA president Campbell. 

Former Toronto Mayor John Sewell, who is also co-ordinator of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition, said in an interview that the current police budget request doesn't take into account any pay increase that might result from the arbiter's decision. That could add tens of millions more to city costs.

"I think it's going to be pretty messy," he said.