November 9, 1998

TO:Toronto Emergency & Protective Services Committee

FROM:Norman Gardner, Chairman

Toronto Police Services Board

SUBJECT:UPDATE ON PROPOSED POLICE DIVISIONAL BOUNDARIES

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

1.the Emergency & Protective Services Committee receive this report; and

2.that the Committee forward a copy of this report to Toronto City Council for information.

Council Reference/Background History:

At its meeting on October 26, 1998, the Toronto Police Services Board was in receipt of the following report October 1, 1998 from David J. Boothby, Chief of Police:

"SUBJECT:BOUNDARIES STATUS REPORT

RECOMMENDATIONS:That the Board receive this interim report on proposed new divisional boundaries in the City of Toronto.

That the Board identify two Board members to assist in communicating this process to members of City Council and to interested parties.

BACKGROUND:

This report responds to the Board's request that the Service provide regular updates on the status of the review of Divisional Boundaries (Board Minutes No. 338/97 and 476/97 refer).

History:

The Metropolitan Toronto Police Service embarked on its plan to better deliver community policing in 1991. It was identified, at that time, that for Neighbourhood Policing to be fully effective, police boundaries would have to be changed to reflect existing communities. Patrol area and divisional boundaries, as they currently exist, were established in the early 1960s. Since Toronto has evolved over the last 30 years, some of the current boundaries are not as effective as they could be. The current divisional boundaries that separate the Chinese community in the Spadina Avenue area and those that separate the Parkdale community are two of the more prevalent examples.

The Boundaries Committee:

In response to recommendations contained in the Service's Beyond 2000: Restructuring Task Force Report, a Boundaries Committee was established in early 1997 to assist with the implementation of new divisional boundaries. Recommendation 20.1 of the Restructuring Task Force Report reads, "That "neighbourhoods" be established in accordance with the Beyond 2000 Implementation Report of December, 1992." As the Service attempts to positions itself to implement the model division structure of 261 staff, however, the geographical size of some divisions will change and this will necessitate the movement of some neighbourhoods from one division to another. When the divisional geography changes, so may the composition of the Community Police Liaison Committees and so may the relationships that have been established between officers and community members. This includes members of the residential, business and political communities. It was identified, early in the process, that implementing a neighbourhood structure before changing divisional boundaries has the potential to hurt police community relations. Therefore, it is critically important to implement new divisional boundaries before implementing neighbourhood boundaries. Neighbourhood boundaries are, however, the cornerstones that new divisional boundaries are built on.

In December 1997, four different boundary options were presented to Command Officers. Command Officers identified the option they deemed to be most suitable, but acknowledged that more refinements were necessary before the Service could support the proposed new boundaries.

Although the boundaries served to provide the majority of divisions with a more equitable distribution of radio calls, the Service had to ensure that the new boundaries would give adequate consideration to neighbourhood policing issues.

Field Command Deputy Chiefs and divisional unit commanders were consulted in an attempt to address call for service and other policing issues in the City's downtown core and in some of the peripheral areas. In addition, a work group comprised of representatives of 11, 14, 52 and 51 Divisions was formed to review the proposed boundaries.

Members of the Boundaries Committee have also consulted with Facilities Management, Occurrence Processing and Records Management, Communication Services and Computing and Telecommunications to determine the impact of the proposed changes.

Member concerns:

Several concerns which will impact on Service members were identified. These are concerns that management must address. For example, concerns were raised that some members will remain in their current assignments but will be responsible for a different geographical area. Others will have to be re-assigned. Further, officers were concerned that a re-alignment of divisional boundaries will lead to a decrease in staff. Members need to be assured that the intent of this initiative is to equalize the demands placed on police officers throughout the City. They were also concerned that there will be a decrease in promotional opportunities for staff. No decrease in staff or promotional opportunities are intended and these concerns will be further addressed through ongoing consultations with the Toronto Police Association and the Senior officers organization.

Enhanced officer safety:

Enhanced officer safety is a direct outcome of a new divisional structure. The structure of the model division, as identified in the Restructuring Task Force Final Report, will increase the number of staff assigned to smaller divisions and decrease the number of staff assigned to larger divisions. By realigning divisional boundaries and by pursuing a model division structure which targets 261 persons, the Service will better distribute the overall calls for service which, in itself, will better equalize the number of officers on the road in all divisions. This will provide a safer working environment for all officers.

Facility considerations:

Facility issues must be considered before the implementation of new boundaries can proceed. The main issues are the staged implementation of new and renovated facilities and the size of facilities. Divisions staffed equally with approximately 261 staff will require a 40,000 square foot facility. Since it is impossible to perfectly equalize demands in all divisions, staffing complements could range from 220 to 280 staff in today's environment. In addition, facilities have a projected life of at least 50 years and it is imperative that the buildings be planned to accommodate future expansion. This will require approximately 47,000 square feet. The site, actual programme requirements and a variety of other factors will also affect the actual size of the buildings. Since facility considerations are an ongoing capital expense, costs associated to new and renovated facilities will not be an additional cost to the Service. To ensure that facilities are properly placed within new boundaries, it is imperative that divisional boundaries be identified before new facilities are built or older facilities are renovated.

Impact on Communications Services:

Implementation of new boundaries will impact heavily on Communications Services. Changes to the Service's ICAD system will have to be facilitated. Examples of some of the changes that will have to be made to the Service's ICAD system include changes to call sign, intersection file and dispatch group information. Training material will have to be prepared, members will have to be trained and Toronto's Land Information Services (LIS) will need to update their files.

The impact on Communications Services will vary from approximately 174 person days to 379 person days. A review of the impact on Communications Services concluded that, "...any change in boundaries will affect Communications. However, the impact on Communications as well as the field, will be greatly decreased if the current numeric naming conventions for divisions and areas (i.e. neighbourhoods) are retained..." This issue will be further explored.

Management information systems:

The conversion of existing divisional patrol area boundaries to neighbourhood boundaries requires changes to systems that will support those new boundaries and provide basic information to Command. Computing and Telecommunications will have to modify all support and executive information systems to reflect the new boundaries. Failure to update systems such as Computer Aided Dispatch, Occurrence Processing and Records Management along with PC based mapping programs will render existing record keeping systems obsolete and burdensome.

Due to the time it has taken to identify new boundaries, the conversion of technological systems has not been considered a priority. For boundary revisions to be implemented, however, the technology component is essential. An exact accounting of the costs in this area are not available but, at this point in time, it is estimated to be approximately $530,000. A more precise cost will be established when an implementation plan is fully developed.

Major boundary issues:

This proposal is intended to provide a long term perspective on implementation. Some of the changes can be implemented immediately, while others can be implemented over a longer period of time. Some of the major changes include (see map for details):

Ccombining parts of No. 12 and No. 13 Divisions to form one division;

Credefining the existing No. 21 Division as a partial service or community response station;

Ccreating another division bounded by McCowan Road on the west, Hwy. 401 on the north, the Pickering Town Line on the east and Lake Ontario on the south;

Ccreating a new division which encompasses parts of No. 51, No. 52 and No. 53 division areas; and

Cchanging the boundaries for the existing No. 14 Division and No. 11 Division.

Next Steps:

Internally, the identification of recommended new boundaries is complete. The next steps in this process have been identified as:

Ccommunication of the plan to the Police Services Board and agreement for members of the Board to participate in external consultations;

Ccommencing the external consultation process;

Creviewing and re-visiting proposed boundaries with City officials;

Creviewing and re-visiting proposed boundaries in consideration of futher future development; and

Ccommencing a staged implementation process of the boundaries initiative to coincide with the Services long term Facilities Plan.

Project plan and implementation:

A project plan now needs to be drafted. This plan will have to identify the stakeholders, detail the specific costs of implementation, identify staff and human resource issues and detail how the implementation will be staged throughout the City. Efforts will have to be co-ordinated with and support the Service's long term Facility Plan.

Co-ordinating external consultations will be demanding and members will have to be available to answer questions, respond to recommendations and liaise with stakeholders. Members of the Boundaries Committee are already committed to full time positions and will not have the time required to dedicate to this initiative. Further development and implementation of new divisional boundaries will require the commitment of two full time staff.

This plan is a blueprint for new divisional boundaries. One of the principles identified early in this process was that, with the passing of time, neighbourhoods will change. Members of the Boundaries Committee are aware that Service boundaries need to be flexible so that the Service can alter them as the neighbourhoods change. The best way to accomplish this is through the use of geocoding. Geocoding is costly but the ability to easily change and redefine neighbourhoods will only be realized when geo-coding is introduced into the dispatch and information systems.

Boundaries Committee membership:

Membership on the Boundaries Committee has changed over time. Some members have either retired or moved on to other responsibilities. The majority of the members, however, have remained constant. These members include:

Deputy Chief Robert Kerr, East Field Command,

Supt. Al Robertson, Beyond 2000 Geography Sub-committee Chair, 1992,

Supt. Rod Spencer, Training & Education, original Chair of the current Boundaries Committee (Retired),

S/Insp. William Blair, Senior Officers Organization, current Chair of the current Boundaries Committee,

Mr. Doug Corrigan, Toronto Police Association Executive representative,

Mr. Michael Ellis , Manager, Facilities Management,

S/Sgt. Donald Bevers, NWFC,

S/Sgt. Glenn Pypher, EFC Planning,

S/Sgt. Brent Smerdon, Human Resources,

Sgt. Jon Schmidt, Corporate Planning,

Sgt. Thomas Russell, CFC Planning,

Mr. Hing-bo Fung, Corporate Planning, Strategic Planning analyst,

Ms. Jackie Murdoch, Computing and Telecommunications,

Ms. Karen Dymytrysn, Communications Services,

Mr. Andrew Lyszkiewicz. City of Toronto, Land Information Services, and

Ms. Nora Prior, Prior & Prior Associates (Consultant).

External consultations:

With the internal consultation process complete, a community consultation process needs to be undertaken by unit commanders in conjunction with their respective CPLCs. Members of the Police Service's Board also need to assist in communicating this process to members of City Council and to interested parties. Members of the Boundaries Committee will develop a strategy to engage special community organizations and groups.

The Boundaries Committee has recommended that "the Emergency and Protective Services Committee review the prospect of aligning the Police districts and divisions to coincide with political boundaries within the City of Toronto to facilitate community policing...and work more closely together at the neighbourhood level" (Board Min. 322/98 refers). Members of the Police Services Board and members of the Boundaries Committee will, where possible, interact with members from the City to ensure the boundaries initiative is communicated and that representatives have an opportunity for input.

When appropriate, a news release will be written outlining the proposed boundaries. Articles will be written which also outline the proposed boundaries and encourage both members of the Service and members of the public to get involved and to offer their comments. Once written, local community papers will be approached, as will the major papers in the City of Toronto. Radio stations will be contacted, as appropriate and advised of the proposed boundaries. Requests will be made to involve a member in an interactive talk show. A member of the Boundaries Committee will also request to attend a Breakfast Television production to discuss the proposed Boundaries and to help advertise the change.

Community consultation is an important the next step. It will require the participation of Command Officers, Board members, Unit Commanders and members of the Boundaries Committee.

It is therefore recommended that the Board receive this interim report on proposed new divisional boundaries in the City of Toronto and that the Board identify two Board members to assist in communicating this process to members of City Council and to interested parties

Deputy Chief Robert Kerr, East Field Command (Local 8-4015) and Staff Inspector William Blair of 51 Division (Local 8-5113) will be in attendance to answer any questions the Board may have."

Conclusions:

The following persons were in attendance and made deputations to the Board:

Kyle Rae *

Councillor - Downtown, City of Toronto

Blake Kinahan

Councillor - Lakeshore Queensway, City of Toronto

Bob Tebbutt

Former Chair, No. 21 Division Mimico CPLC

David Haslam

Chair, No. 21 Division Mimico CPLC

Joyce Champagne

Chair, No. 21 Division Alderwood-Long Branch CPLC

* written submission also provided, copy appended to this Minute

Deputy Chief Robert Kerr, East Field Command, Staff Insp. William Blair, No. 51 Division, and Sgt. Jon Schmidt, Corporate Planning, were also in attendance and discussed this report with the Board.

1.THAT the Board receive the deputations;

2.THAT the written submission from Councillor Rae be forwarded to the Chief of Police for review;

3.THAT the Board receive the foregoing interim report on the proposed new divisional boundaries;

4.THAT the Chief of Police provide the Board with a further report for the December 15, 1998 meeting which includes the following:

-detailed rationale for each of the proposed boundary changes

- a project plan that includes specific implementation timelines and budgetary impact (including whether $530,000 for technological changes has been budgeted)

-response to the recommendations contained in Councillor Rae's written submission

-detailed outline of an external public consultation process

-map identifying both the current and proposed boundaries

5.THAT, upon receipt of the Chief's rationale and project plan, the Board request a presentation on the proposed boundaries and identify two Board members to assist in the consultative process identified in the project plan; and

6.THAT a copy of this report be forwarded to Toronto City Council for information.

Contact Name and Telephone Number:

Sergeant Jon Schmidt, Corporate Planning Unit, telephone no. 808-8034.

Respectfully submitted,

Norman Gardner

Chairman

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