'A very welcome addition': Downtown BIAs voice support for Mayor Tory's proposed police budget increase

Six of Toronto’s downtown Business Improvement Areas (BIA) have voiced their support for Mayor John Tory’s proposed $48.3 million increase to the city’s police budget, despite criticism of the proposal by many community organizations and one high-profile city councillor.

In a statement released Wednesday, Toronto’s six largest downtown BIAs said they applauded Tory’s proposal and his commitment to community safety.

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If approved, the investment would see 200 more officers join the force.

At least 162 of those officers would be deployed to what the city described as "priority response units," 25 of which would be based downtown.

“Community safety and well-being is key to the success of neighbourhoods and cities, and Toronto’s Downtown BIAs applaud Mayor John Tory’s announcement of an increase in the police budget,” the statement read.

“The Mayor’s announcement not only highlights the importance of community safety, on a practical level it provides 25 new police officers to the downtown core – a very welcome addition to community safety efforts.”

The Toronto Police Services emblem is photographed during a press conference at TPS headquarters, in Toronto on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

The statement comes after the proposed increase was met with criticism by many community activists and organizations who say that increased police spending does not create safer communities nor does it decrease the amount of crime.

Most Toronto city councillors have yet to comment on the proposal, which was announced at a news conference at City Hall on Tuesday, save for long-time Ward 12, Toronto –St. Paul’s councillor Josh Matlow.

In a statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday, Matlow said Tory’s proposal was neither the fact-based nor the most effective approach to combatting crime.

“Making our neighbourhoods truly safe will involve investing in addressing poverty, racialization, mental health, homelessness and addiction through providing proven programs such as spaces for at-risk youth, job training, trauma counselling, and evection protection,” the statement read.

“While the evidence is clear that investing in communities reduces crime and improves resiliency, there’s absolutely no evidence to suggest that the number of officers of the amount we invest into police has any effect on crime.”

In an interview with CTV News Toronto on Tuesday, Matlow said he understands that people are concerned about safety in the city following a number of headline-grabbing, violent incidents that have taken place over the past few months.

But Matlow added that he thinks residents deserve leadership that doesn’t “simply throw money at an already large police budget.”

“The reality is, it's unrealistic that we're ever going to have police officers everywhere all the time, just waiting for crime to occur,” he said,

“We are better off as a society and we are safer as a community, to invest in the root causes of violence in our society, so that we don't have to police and incarcerate in the first place.”

The six BIAs acknowledge in their statement that “policing is only one component of a multi-sectoral and collaborative approach to community safety and well-being.”

“To achieve the goals of SafeTO, Toronto’s 10-year community safety and well-being plan, effective interventions for enhancing and fast-tracking access to social services, mental health and addiction treatment services, and increased supportive housing development are also vitally important,” the statement reads.

“In this regard, we appreciate Mayor Tory’s commitment to ongoing funding for the Toronto Community Crisis Service, which provides a non-police response to persons in crisis.”

During his Tuesday announcement, Tory said that the proposed Toronto Police Service budget will also 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.

The number of uniformed Toronto police officers decreased by more than 500 over the last decade. During that time the police budget also declined as a share of the city’s overall budget by three per cent.

It, however, remains the single biggest line item in the city’s operating budget.

The city’s full 2023 spending plans, which are set to be unveiled on Jan. 10, will be reviewed by the budget committee starting Jan. 12 followed by a number of public consultations.

While the new so-called strong mayor powers awarded to Tory allow him to present this year’s budget directly to council, the city says the mayor plans to keep the budget approval process “largely the same” by continuing to hear input from the public and council.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Phil Tsekouras