Stabbing of teen at Toronto bus station sparks calls to revert recent changes to TTC security policies

The union representing the Toronto Transit Commission’s special constables is calling for the reversal of some recent staffing changes that they say may have hindered the response to the stabbing of a 17-year-old girl at an east-end station last weekend.

The incident took place at around 4 p.m. last Sunday in the bus bay of Warden Station. Police say the victim was stabbed in the torso and taken to a local trauma centre with non-life-threatening injuries.

The attacker, later found to be a 16-year-old girl, was able to flee the scene, police said, and was not apprehended until the following day.

The incident has prompted the union representing the TTC’s special constable and transit enforcement officers to speak out on a recent reduction in the constable’s presence at the security dispatch desk, which is responsible for reviewing CCTV footage.

Previously, special constables were stationed at the desk 24/7. As of July 16, the constables are deployed from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Friday, the TTC’s busiest periods. Outside of peak hours and on weekends, transit control employees staff the desk.

According to the TTC’s dispatch desk policies, only special constables and management are permitted to request security footage to be reviewed – transit control staff can only observe the feed live unless directed by management. Civilian staff are also not permitted to review any footage deemed "sensitive" or "disturbing," the policy states.

“The ability to review criminal incidents with appropriate training, to assist officers in the field with decision making, is of huge value to us. Civilian staff are not trained for this,” Dariuisz Nowotny, who is the president of CUPE 5089, told CTV News Toronto in a written statement.

“Civilian staff also are not as familiar with the repeat offenders that our constables know well [and] they don't have access to law enforcement information such as BOLOs (be on the lookout) so they won't recognize people wanted for crimes against our customers and employees.”

TTC DEFENDS CHANGE

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green confirmed to CTV News Toronto that the footage obtained of Warden station at the time of Sunday’s incident was only reviewed after Toronto police requested the evidence from the commission, nearly three hours after the attack took place.

But he said that the union’s suggestion that safety is being compromised by recent staffing changes is wrong.

In fact, he said that the changes have allowed the commission to deploy “MORE special constables to the frontlines.”

“Additionally, we are creating a new dispatch function that will improve response times and coordinate responses between Special Constables, security guards and street outreach workers who are assisting in our safety program,” he added.

In contrast to Nowotny, he says these changes will enhance safety for riders and employees.

As for Sunday’s incident, Green confirmed the footage obtained of Warden station at the time of the incident was only reviewed after Toronto police requested the evidence from the commission, nearly three hours after the attack took place.

The commission did not clarify as to why a review was not requested earlier.

While Notowny acknowledged there’s no way to know what may have taken place on July 23 had special constables been deployed at the dispatch desk, the president said the value of having suspect information in real-time cannot be undervalued.

“I’m sure one can appreciate the benefits of responding officers having suspect images on their cellphones as they arrive on the scene or knowing more definitively who’s carrying a weapon, who’s a suspect, or where the crime scene is exactly when responding to service calls.”

UNION SAYS MEMBERS ARE UNDERUTILIZED

CUPE 5089 representatives have been quick to voice their concerns regarding changes made to the commission’s enforcement department in recent months, which they say has left their department “understaffed and under utilized.” In January, they slammed a decision to deploy 50 privately-contracted security guards amidst a wave of violence on the system.

READ MORE: TTC deploying 80 additional staff to focus on safety amid rash of violence

Executive director Leslie Kampf said at the time that they were “very disappointed, but not shocked” to see the city augment its operations.

He also said that, for several years now, the commission has been instructing the union’s members to "move away from enforcement and policing."

“The TTC has failed in its obligation to its staff and customers to provide a safe transit system, so we understand why the mayor feels the need to address this deficit with additional resources,” Kampf said. “ Our position is, and continues to be, to allow our highly trained members to do their jobs.”

According to an online dashboard launched by the TTC last month, violent crime on the system is trending down.

The data finds the rate of reported offences against customers stood at 1.82 per million customers in May, a 32.6 per cent decrease from the rate in January, while the rate of offences against employees was 8.39 incidents per 100 employees in May 2023, a 3.3 per cent decrease from January.

Meanwhile, Notowny is calling on the TTC to reinstate special constables at the dispatch desk around the clock.

“All law enforcement incidents would benefit from immediate CCTV review,” Nowotny said. “Any move to reduce this benefit is a detriment to a safe TTC.”