Ford's plan to hire more police, only cops don't want them - thestar.comRob Ford wants to hire 100 more cops for Toronto. Yet, he has not talked to anyone in the Toronto Police Service or the board to see if this is necessary or feasible financially.
Excerpts:
those in high-ranking circles are questioning why the tight-fisted mayor
made the costly pledge without consulting the service, its union or its
board, about whether more officers are needed. ...
Since 2005, crime is down across Toronto by about 30 per cent. Over that
same period, the force has been struggling to get hold of its worsening
financial crisis....
Wages and benefits account for 90 per cent of the police budget, which
is also the largest item in Toronto’s $9.2 billion operating budget....
The number of police officers on the Toronto force is decided by city council.
In late 2005, following a record year of gang homicides, council
agreed to increase the complement to 5,510 strong. There are sometimes
slight fluctuations due to the lag time between when officers retire and
new classes graduate, but the Toronto force is legally required to keep
its numbers within that range.
When asked if he felt the current staffing levels to be sufficient,
Mukherjee said, “We have obviously felt that the numbers that this
council approved were adequate for what we were using police officers
for.”
If Ford does decide to hire 100 more police officers — a commitment
he reaffirmed to Jerry Agar on Newstalk 1010 in mid-November — council
would need to agree.
Once finalized, it would be politically difficult to reduce the complement, creating permanent budget pressure.
...
The officer debate is playing out just weeks before the association
and board enter contentious bargaining talks. During the last round of
bargaining in 2008, the two sides were forced to enlist the help of a
provincial arbitrator for the first time in a decade. This followed nine
months of negotiating, which ended in a deadlock.
The arbitrator controversially awarded officers a 10 per cent raise
by 2010. Critics, including vice-board chair and councillor Pam
McConnell, lamented that cash-strapped Toronto could not afford the
decision.
Ford is only pushing so hard for subways because he knows that there
won't be ANY ground-breaking on any subway project while he's still in
office. He'll do what he actually wants (to kill Transit City) and the
actual task of starting real subway development will be left for the
next mayor or the one after that.
Toronto needs expanded and improved transit. Doesn't matter how or in
what form, so long as we can get people moving sooner rather than
later. The whole excuse of "do it right the first time" is just hurting
everything even more because it's a simple fact that the TTC wastes a
huge chunk of their budget on union wages and so our government does not
take public transit seriously because they just view it as a cash cow.
I'll take what I can get. Maybe I'll be able to take transit to work by the time I retire. Maybe.
Stells Bells: I'm staggered by Doug's claim that he has been to "every single city in
North America". Surely that claim alone proves that he is full of sh!t
and one need go no further.
Nick: I think Doug's polling question would have to be
examined. For instance, you can ask the question "Does Toronto need more
subways and fewer streetcars?" (obviously, yes) or "Does Toronto need
7.5 km of subway serving a small percentage of its population or 75 km
of right-of-way separated LRT that serves 80% if its population and
frees up space for cars on the road and that's already funded by the province" (obviously, yes!!).
I wish Toronto had votable propositions like US states do, which
allocate specific funds for specific purposes, and which can't be
overturned by the latest dullard to take office. I don't think Ford got a
mandate to forge ahead with some half-baked subway plan but rather to
stop some ill-defined gravy train.