Residents of at least two neighborhoods oppose a move by Toronto police to redeploy community police to all but three units in the city.
The Toronto Police Department (TPS) confirmed to CBC News that it has redeployed community response officers (CRUs) since June 6, with the exception of those in the 14th, 51st and 52nd divisions. Police say the shift was needed to support the expansion of a different unit – the neighborhood employee’s program – in different parts of the city.
“There was a phenomenal integration and that’s a great thing for the community,” said Didi Cameron, who lives in a neighborhood near Eglinton Avenue East and Mount Pleasant Road.
“He’s gone now.”
Residents say they understand the need for specialized staff in other communities, but are worried that they are losing a key tool to prevent crime in their neighborhoods. While some experts support expanding the neighborhood staff program, they doubt why this happened without publicly disclosing many details of the decision.
Part of a community
CRU employees are responsible for everything from responding to crime in a certain area and patrols, to working on issues such as prevention. They also respond to events such as demonstrations and festivals in a specific community.
Cameron set up a neighborhood surveillance team about eight years ago and says CRU officers patrolling her neighborhood in Division 53 have played a key role.
“We make communities aware, they are safe, we teach them how to communicate. And it’s all about these community response units … giving us information to share, “Cameron said.
“They are the ones who talk to us, who teach us what is happening in our neighborhood, how to defend ourselves. They will go out to talk to different groups, organizations quite often.”
It shows police patrolling the Dixon Road community as part of an information program. (Patrick Morel / CBC)
Cameron says much of the presence of CRU employees is the relationships they have built with residents and businesses.
“I understand that some neighborhoods, certain units may need more police care for their problems… but this cannot be at the expense of other neighborhoods and communities.”
At the eastern end of the city, some residents have a similar sense of losing CRU employees.
“It increases the safety of the whole community. And that’s why I’m upset that I’m taking them away, “said Cindy Cass, a neighborhood watch representative for the part of The Beach known in the area as Pleasantville, south of Queen Street East. and just west of Woodbine Avenue.
“They really focus on building trust with people and also having good relationships with people in your community, and that helps reduce crime.
The neighborhood program is expanding
TPS told CBC News it was redeploying CRU staff to expand the neighborhood staff program from 38 neighborhoods to 51.
Like the CRU, neighborhood employees are community-based, but are posted for at least four years to get to know the community better. They are more deliberately selected for specific skills and are only in target communities. The program was introduced a decade ago, but was expanded in 2019.
“The service acknowledges that these are significant changes for TPS and our communities,” a police statement said.
Toronto police say they are redeploying CRU staff to expand the neighborhood staff program. (Martin Trainer / CBC)
TPS went on to say: “We make our operational decisions to best control the city with the resources we have.”
The remaining CRU employees who are not deployed as neighborhood employees will be sent to the Priority Response Unit (PRU), which responds to emergency calls.
Former Toronto Police Council Chairman Alok Mukherjee said he welcomed the expansion of the neighborhood staff program, noting that even with the expansion in most neighborhoods, there are still no special staff in the neighborhood.
But he doubts why many details of the enlargement have not been released, saying one of the program’s goals is to tackle the roots of gun violence.
Alok Mukherjee was Chairman of the Toronto Police Services Council from 2005-2015 (Submitted by Alok Mukherjee)
“We needed the police service some reviews and some assessments and some analysis to show us exactly how the neighborhood program was effective in achieving this goal of being a preventive, proactive initiative,” Mukherjee said.
“There is a lot of information that has not been made available to the community. But in the meantime, as we know, it is moving forward with enlargement without first being transparent and telling people.”
Mukherjee also questions what it means to leave CRU employees for neighborhoods that currently do not have neighborhood employees.
“I think there are questions about the areas that are losing their staff to the community’s response. How will this feel? What will happen to the knowledge networks, the connections, the connections that this community has built? ”
TPS told CBC News that it is “committed” to ensuring that public safety is maintained during redistribution.
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