Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said she approves of Toronto Police Service’s proposal for a $46.2-million budget increase in 2025.
The police service said the increase will support an already approved multi-year hiring plan to recruit more frontline officers.
The ask from TPS would amount to a 3.9 per cent increase over this year’s police budget.
Bradley Hammond, Chow’s director of communications, said the hiring plan, which would add 109 net new officers next year, will offer “a lot of predictability” for the city.
With its inclusion of a clear staffing plan, this year’s TPS budget proposal is more in line with how the city’s fire and paramedic services propose their budget increases, Hammond told TorontoToday.
“For the first time in 10 years, we finally have a police staffing plan,” Chow said at a press conference Thursday. “How can you manage a police force if you can’t tell how many people you’re going to have? It doesn’t work.”
Chow said there was “a bit of drama” over this year’s police budget because there was no plan for how many new officers would be hired.
She credited Coun. Shelley Carroll, who serves as the mayor's budget chief and sits on the police board, for helping to create a plan that will work for the city.
Hammond said Chow hopes the city can move “beyond the ups and downs of the money piece” and focus on delivering increased police services that Torontonians will notice.
TPS said it also intends to prioritize hiring more 911 operators.
