In this issue:
1. Changing the shift schedule, finally
2. Policing symposium
3. New provincial appointees
4. Police Board meetings hither and yon
5. Seeking new TPAC members, again
Toronto Police Accountability Bulletin No. 118, February 3, 2020.
This Bulletin is published by the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition (TPAC), a group of individuals and organizations in Toronto interested in police policies and procedures, and in making police more accountable to the community they are committed to serving. Our website is http://www.tpac.ca
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In this issue:
1. Changing the shift schedule, finally
2. Policing symposium
3. New provincial appointees
4. Police Board meetings hither and yon
5. Seeking new TPAC members, again
6. Subscribe to the Bulletin
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1. Changing the shift schedule, finally
For three decades, front line officers in Toronto police have worked under a shift schedule which has as many officers on duty at 4 am as at 7 pm, and because of overlaps pays for 28 hours of work in every 24 hour period. It means there aren’t enough officers available to respond to calls in the busy hours (and too many hanging around when there aren’t calls), and that public funds are wasted.
TPAC has asked the Toronto Police Services Board to review this schedule for the last ten years, without success (See Bulletin No. 105, September 21, 2017 for our review of the arrangement), but in 2018 rank and file officers began to complain so loudly about the stresses caused by the schedule, that staff decided something had to be done.
Gregory Watts, a 21 year veteran on the force, was assigned to deal with the problem. He’s that rarest of breeds in a police organization, a manager adept at getting staff agreement on systems change.
Watts started with the assumption is that there is no such thing as a good shift system – having to regularly work nights is unpleasant and upsetting. The best one can do is seek out the least damaging alternative, and that would include looking at officer health (given the stress that working on night puts on people) as well as officer convenience and what’s best for the police force as a whole.
Watts began with a division in Scarborough, working with four basic principles:
* The shift schedule would be tailored to that division – there would be no system wide approach since each division has different demands for service
* There would be full transparency in the study, and all data would be shared with all officers
* Officers would vote on the shift schedule they would like
* Ongoing analysis would follow any change.
A UK firm, Strategic Directions, was retained to study how demands for service compared with officer availability on an hour by hour basis, showing when there were too many officers, and when too few. Different schedules were then analyzed, including start times (6 am or 7 am??), the number of platoons, the length of shifts, consecutive days worked and days off, weekend work, the fatigue index.
Rank and file officers were presented with half a dozen options with the pros and cons for each. They then voted on which to implement - in this case a twelve hour work schedule. That happened in late 2018, and the data is now available on the first year of the new schedule.
The results of the change are astounding. While calls for service has gone up in the Scarborough division about the same as the rest of the service, only 9 per cent of the calls are pending a response; in the rest of the service, about 20 per cent of calls are pending a response. Traffic tickets issued in the division are up 25 per cent, while they are down considerably in the rest of the service. Call backs – where officers get overtime for work out of the shift – are considerably down.
What’s even better, according to Watts, is that officer morale in the division has soared. Officers are much happier coming in to work.
The good news is that the same process has been conducted in recent months in the remaining 15 divisions, and changes were implemented at the end of January. This promises more responsive policing throughout the city at less cost. The number of officers on duty is better calibrated to the calls for service, and there’s no costly overlap for the public to pay for.
It’s good news all around. Now what’s needed is a similar study on the requirement of two officers in a police car after dark.
2. Policing symposium
On Saturday March 14, The Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security presents a symposium titled `Law and Disorder’, focusing on democratic governance, accountability and control of police. It will be held in the downtown Toronto office of the Osgoode Hall Law School, 1 Dundas Street West, Room 2602.
The symposium is a tribute of Margaret Beare, a professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School, and a member of the TPAC steering committee who died last year. It promises a broad range of policing topics discussed by number of international as well as local speakers, many touching on issues Margaret was involved in, both as an expert on policing issues and as a member of TPAC.
The first panel in the morning beginning at 9.30 am, includes five speakers (TPAC’s Anna Willats is one) on `Policing People’, followed by two further panels on `Policing’ Money’(a special interest to Margaret), touching on money laundering, transnational issues, organized crime, cybercrime, corruption, with eight speakers.
Following lunch, five speakers (including TPAC’s John Sewell) will provide comments on human rights, community activism and other issues as a tribute to Margaret.
The public is invited. There is no charge involved. To register, please email to lawanddisorder@osgoode.yorku.ca
3. New provincial appointees
The province has appointed Ainsworth Morgan to the Toronto Police Services Board for a three year term. Mr. Morgan grew up in Regent Park, played professional football in the CFL, obtained a Masters in Education, and is currently a principal in the Toronto District School Board. He is active in the Pathways to Education Project, the White Ribbon Campaign (directed at male violence against women), and 100 Strong Foundation mentoring Black youth.
The province also appointed two members to the board of the Ontario Human Rights Commission: Randall Arsenault and Violette Igneski. Mr. Arsenault is a constable with the Toronto police force who has publicly praised Premier Ford in his extensive social media account, including a photo with the Premier, providing something of a reprise of the Premier’s attempt to appoint his friend Ron Taverner as the head of the Ontario Provincial Police. Ms Igneski is a professor of moral and political philosophy at McMaster University, and has ties to the Ontario Progressive Conservative party.
Neither person had applied to be appointed to a government position. Renu Mandhane, the province’s chief human rights commissioner, said she was “somewhat surprised” at the appointments. The Commission has recently prepared reports on racism in the Toronto police force, and has advocated collecting race-based data. Concerns have been expressed about appointing an active police officer to the commission. TPAC shares the concerns of many about the conflict of interest inherent in having an active Toronto police officer appointed to the commission. We are also critical of the government appointing people to the commission who have not applied - a decision that appears to be politically motivated - while overlooking the 30 vetted candidates who have been put forward by the experts who understand the requirements of the position. Premier Ford should immediately revoke these appointments, and choose candidates from among the thirty presented by the OHRC.
4. Police Board meetings hither and yon
In an apparent attempt to reach out to the community, the Police Services Board under the new chairmanship of Jim Hart, has decided to stop meeting at police headquarters downtown and will meet throughout city in the first part of 2020. The purpose is “to better engage Toronto communities’ with the “hope that by effectively bringing meetings into communities, members of the public will have more opportunities to engage with the Board, provide their input on policing matters in the City, and share a local perspective on issues of importance.”
Moving meetings around does little to engage the public, since most items on Police Board agenda do not address grapple the significant issues which affect people – the nature of police/community relations, the style of policing, issues of race and police function, effective means of crime deterrence, and so forth. Until the police board agrees to focus publicly on these issues and lead public debate, the chance to attracting members of the public to its meetings will be very limited. Further, the Board has done limited outreach currently, just a few days ahead of meetings. We need to know how they plan to fully inform people about upcoming meetings, with the broadest outreach via community groups and public notices possible.
It starts with a meeting on February 25 in the North York Civic Centre.
5. TPAC seeking new members, again
As noted in the last Bulletin, TPAC would like to add a few new members to the steering committee, which meets monthly. The steering committee discusses policing policy and reviews agenda of the Toronto Police Services Board. But the email address we provided then was not operational (we had changed servers.) It is now fixed and working.
If you have an interest in joining the steering committee please let us know your interest at info@tpac.ca .
6. Subscribe to the Bulletin
To subscribe or unsubscribe to this Bulletin, please send a note to info@tpac.ca with the instructions in the subject line or in the text of the message. Our e-mail list is confidential and will not be made available to others. There is no charge for the Bulletin. Our website is http://www.tpac.ca .
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