Toronto Police are demanding tens of millions more; this won’t make us safer. A safe & thriving Toronto does not include more cops.
Toronto has seen a deterioration around public services: transit, garbage collection, road maintenance, libraries, shelters and homelessness supports, to name a few. As residents, we are told about the budget deficit, and how these services must be cut because there is no money. On that same thread, why has the police budget continued to increase while cutting funds for social services that contribute to a safe and thriving Toronto?
Reported studies have shown that allocation to social services and an investment in the social determinants of health are what improve wellbeing and happiness in cities; research has also shown that more police spending does not correlate to lower crime rates.
Toronto’s property taxes are one of the lowest across the country and over a decade ago, Toronto’s City Manager said that the rate of tax increases were lagging behind inflation and not covering the operational costs. Tory’s administration left Toronto in horrible shape and services and supports for residents are in disarray. Even with the current proposed property tax increase for 2024’s budget, the average homeowner will pay about $30 more per month. This $30/month of added taxes could go towards fixing our roads, improving garbage collection, opening shelters, increasing hours of operations at libraries, funding transit…
…paying for more cops will actively take away from
what this city desperately needs for people here to thrive.
Is more cops and policing where you want your tax dollars to go?
This 2024 City of Toronto budget season, the Toronto Police Association (TPA) is insisting they need more money from the City budget and are asking for public support to achieve this. According to the TPA, police keep neighbourhoods safe.
The TPA say that they are using statistics and facts provided by the Toronto Police Service. This data collection is often inadequate, and whatever is available is biased. Meanwhile a myriad of resources demonstrate how policing does not keep Toronto residents safe, and in fact, is actively harmful.
TPA states that “For five of the last 10 years, the Service has received a 0% increase; The TPS portion of the City’s overall budget has decreased 11% since 2010.”
In actuality, the Service has been receiving steady increases over the last several years.
(source: City of Toronto)
In fact, there is a lot of misinformation and misrepresentation of truths that TPA has circulated and it is our responsibility to do our due diligence in fact-checking.
Let’s do a deep dive.
Let’s take a deeper look into what the Toronto Police Association is saying, and compare it with facts, figures, and reports we know.
Get involved. Take action.
Toronto, let Mayor Chow and your councillors know what you think. All these parties are responsible in making important budget decisions. Many Torontonians have stated they do not want more police and policing and we must let our City representatives know we hold them to this.
This is Mayor Chow’s proposed budget, yes, AND councillors will be voting on it at Council. We must ensure that councillors are voting on side.
It is imperative that you get involved in making deputations to emphasize that for this budget, you support funding services through whatever means necessary, and mostly importantly, that you DO NOT support more police and policing. These are directly connected.
This budget must:
Recognize that a safe Toronto does not include more cops
De-task and defund (definitely NO increase to the cop budget): the police budget is where the City can find fiscal savings
Invest in people and services that can actually support a thriving Toronto (i.e. social supports and resources)
Demand clear answers from the police in terms of what they really do and stop being complacent with their lack of transparency and clear dishonesty
Value community research and lived experience over police research and talking points
Fund care, not cops!
have more questions?
