Date: Monday, Mar 13, 2023
Unit: Corporate Communications
Phone: 4168087100
Case #: N/A
Beginning today, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) is modifying its approach to deployment of police officers in the city’s transit system.
In January, TPS responded to a request from the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) to temporarily increase its patrols and presence in the transit system in response to concerns of customers and transit employees who said they were feeling unsafe in the wake of some high profile incidents.
TPS, in collaboration with the TTC, announced a temporary, scalable deployment of additional officers, staffed by callback shifts. The objective was to support the TTC in partnership with the City of Toronto and its agencies, including SafeTO.
Doing nothing was not an option and this joint response ensured a balanced approach between social supports and security.
TPS officers engaged with the TTC ridership daily and supported the City and TTC by directly providing more than 220 referrals to individuals needing help in accessing social assistance supports including shelter, food, and mental health services.
Officers also made more than 314 arrests, including an arrest and firearm seizure at Pioneer Village subway station, the arrest of one person following an unprovoked attack on the Spadina street car, and two assault with a weapon incidents. All charges were announced by TPS.
TPS will now return to primarily deploying on-duty officers in the transit system and incorporating those proactive patrols within regular operational work. TPS, in collaboration with the City of Toronto and the TTC, responsible for safety on transit, will continue to assess public safety needs on an ongoing basis. Additional support with police callback shifts will resume if deemed necessary.
Deployment of police officers remains intelligence-led and the number of officers in the system will vary based on time of day, occurrences and issues identified by the TTC and TPS divisions. Additionally, TPS continues to respond to all calls for service and provide emergency response.
Chief of Police Myron Demkiw said, “Toronto Police will be visible in the transit system and officers will continue to patrol the TTC and respond to emergencies and calls for service.” He continued, “Police officers will patrol during the periods that typically generate the most calls for service, where there is a high volume of ridership with times and locations fluctuating based on our intelligence, including the number of calls for police service and information provided by the TTC. We will remain flexible to respond to the concerns of the public and will continuously assess the public safety needs, along with TTC and the City of Toronto.” He added, “Our officers reported being welcomed by a majority of the public they interacted with on transit.”
As the lead on transit security, the TTC will continue to publicly report on transit safety at its monthly Board meetings. The TTC has also added resources to the transit system over the past month, including:
- 50 temporary security guards
- Community Safety Ambassadors
- Street to Homes (S2H) outreach workers in partnership with the City of Toronto, among other supports
“I want to thank Chief Demkiw, Acting Deputy Chief Pogue and the entire Toronto Police Service for their continued support and for ensuring police remain present on the TTC. This partnership is essential to addressing the complex safety and security challenges the TTC has been facing recently,” said TTC CEO Rick Leary. “In addition to the TPS resources, the TTC has been deploying more staff supervisors, additional special constables, contracted street outreach workers and specially trained security guards into our system over the past few weeks as part of this coordinated, strategic approach to safety and security.”
TPS, in collaboration with the TTC and the City of Toronto, will continue to assess the situation while providing support when needed and in response to calls as part of a larger overall approach to addressing safety issues on the TTC.
Ashling Murphy for Corporate Communications
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