This is the first week (June 7/22) WITHOUT a Community Response Unit (CRU) or a Traffic Specific Enforcement Unit (TRU) here in 53 Division. As mentioned in the included Public Message , these Divisional Units have been disbanded to allow the listed Target Communities to have more Police Resources.

This changes how we can respond to you Community Concerns & Traffic Safety Concerns.

Please keep sending us your concerns through email 90023@tps.ca or LeeAnne.Chong@torontopolice.on.ca , or by phone to 416-808-5319.

We appreciate your cooperation as we work to process these concerns & issues now using front line, PRU (Primary Response Unit) Officers.

Here is the previous email message.

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The Toronto Police Service’s 2022 Budget included commitments to redeploy police officers to priority areas including the Neighbourhood Community Officer program (NCO), the Hate Crime Unit, Vision Zero and the new Organized Crime Investigative Support Unit which will focus on Service priorities and emerging crime trends, which includes investigating recent carjackings in the city.

The Service will begin to add more Neighbourhood Community officers in the following 13 neighbourhoods:

• Rockcliffe-Smythe (D12)
• South Parkdale (D14)
• New Toronto (D22)
• Elms-Old Rexdale (D23)
• York University Heights (D31)
• Englemount-Lawrence (D32)
• Clanton Park (D32)
• Dorset Park (D41)
• Eglinton East (D43)
• Golfdale-Cedarbrae-Woburn (D43)
• Harbourfront-City Place (D52)
• Taylor-Massey (D55)
• Danforth (D55)

In order to accommodate the expansion of the NCO program and the other community priorities, members of the Service’s Community Response Unit (CRU) are being redeployed, with the exception of CRU units in the downtown divisions 14, 51 and 52. These locations will remain status quo, with the only change being an increase in the number of NCO officers assigned to the new neighbourhoods in 14 and 52 Divisions.

All remaining officers within the CRU & TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT, who are not serving as NCOs will be redeployed to Priority Response and to other areas of the service.

Every summer, the Service’s Divisions receive hundreds of requests for police officers to attend or staff community events of all sizes across Toronto, either as paid duties or on regular duty.

We must prioritize where we put our resources and this means we will not be able to support every request for police attendance at an event.

Divisions will assess requests for special events using a risk management approach, consistent across all Divisions. Unit Commanders and their management teams will assess community requests, including past events, crowd dynamics, event location(s) and other evidence-based risk factors, to determine if and how TPS may support the event.

The changes will be a new approach for the Service and the communities we serve. They are being made with a view to serving the needs of our communities by being where the public needs us most, while deploying resources given our current staffing capacity

With the loss of these 53 Division Community & Traffic Enforcement resources, the response going forward is going to have to be provided by our front line, priority emergency responders (PRU) , using the priority triage system already in place.

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Please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.

Thank you

Constable Timothy Somers #90023
Toronto Police Service
53 Division
Crime Prevention – Community Safety Officer
Office 416-808-5337
Mobile 416-473-6314