Systemic discrimination in our city deeply impacts the life prospects and opportunities of members of Indigenous, Black and racialized communities, and can lead to disparities in health, social and economic outcomes. For many decades, Indigenous, Black and racialized communities have spoken out about their deep mistrust of public institutions, including the police service. The City has a responsibility to the public to begin the conversation of police reform to ensure public safety for all Toronto residents. Important discussions on racial injustice, inequity and anti-Indigenous and anti-Black racism within police services are happening around the world, and here in Toronto. These discussions resulted in the recommendations and actions on changes to policing adopted by City Council in June 2020.
Council recognizes that engaging with members of Indigenous, Black and racialized communities is key to restoring trust, police accountability and equitable policing. Part of this engagement process will be to develop alternative service delivery models of community safety.
At its meeting in June 2020, City Council adopted 36 decisions related to policing reform. These decisions included areas of public safety, crisis response and police accountability. At its meeting on August 18, 2020, the Toronto Police Services Board approved 81 decisions on policing reform, including the reforms requested by City Council. The recommendations within this report will lead to concrete action from the City, the Toronto Police Service and the Toronto Police Services Board, changing the future of policing in Toronto.
At the February City Council meeting, Council approved the report on the Community Crisis Support Service Pilot, implementing four pilots for community crisis support services in Toronto.
In February 2021, Toronto City Council unanimously approved the implementation of four community crisis support service pilots that will test a new, non-police led approach to non-emergency, non-violent calls, including those involving persons in mental health crisis as well as providing wellness checks.
All four pilots are geographically-based, operating in areas of Toronto where apprehensions under the Mental Health Act and calls for people in crisis are the highest. They will feature mobile crisis support teams from community-based organizations. Calls will be triaged from 911 and dispatched through Findhelp|211 Central.
An update report on the launch of the Community Crisis Support Service pilots will be considered by Executive Committee on January 26, 2022.
In March 2021, the City of Toronto initiated a competitive process that included community feedback and input to determine the service-delivery partners in each of the four pilot areas. The lead agency for each pilot are:
TAIBU Community Health Centre is a multidisciplinary, community-led organization specializing in the delivery of programs and services for Black, Indigenous and racialized communities. This pilot is grounded in an Afrocentric model of Black health and wellbeing offering comprehensive access to services and supports. A collaborative partnership of seven key stakeholders will support the pilot by contributing strategic guidance, expertise and referral pathways to follow-up services and supports. These stakeholders include Hong Fook Mental Health Association, Strides Toronto, The Black Health Alliance, Canadian Mental Health Association of Toronto, the Centre for Mental and Health Addictions, Scarborough Centre for Healthier Communities and the Scarborough Health Network.
Expected Launch Date: March 2022
Active in: Toronto Police Service Divisions 42 and 43
Gerstein Crisis Centre brings decades of experience in strengths-based, trauma informed mental health and addictions support, guided by the voices of those with lived experience. Gerstein will work collaboratively with partners in the downtown east to provide intensive case management and peer-led support, as well as access to in-house crisis beds. Partners include Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Empowerment Council, Family Services Toronto, Health Access St. James Town, Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre, Inner City Health Associates, Regent Park Community Health Centre, Sound Time Support Services, Strides Toronto, Toronto North Support Services, Unity Health Toronto and WoodGreen Community Services.
Expected Launch Date: March 2022
Active in: Toronto Police Service Division 51
Eight organizations will be collaborating to deliver the Community Crisis Support Service pilot in the Northwest. The organizations working together are: Canadian Mental Health Association Toronto, Addiction Services of Central Ontario, Black Creek Community Health Centre, Black Health Alliance, CAFCAN, Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre, Rexdale Community Health Centre and Yorktown Family Services. These community anchor partners provide a broad range of services in the northwest region of Toronto. The pilot will be specifically designed to address the needs of people experiencing mental health and substance use challenges through a comprehensive crisis response approach that will include rapid access to services such as primary care, psychiatric consultation, rapid access to addiction medicine and non-acute care crisis beds.
Expected Launch Date: June 2022
Active in: Toronto Police Service Divisions 23 and 31
2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations is the lead agency in collaboration with ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency and Niiwin Wendaanimak / Four Winds Indigenous Health and Wellness Program, based out of Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre. All three partners bring a wealth of knowledge, skills and expertise in service provision for and by Indigenous communities. The service has received the cultural name Maawinizo-wiidookidaading Maanda Pii Mineskaag which translates to Supporting Each Other in this Time of Need. It will be grounded in a community-centered Indigenous model of health and wellbeing, informed by the Medicine Wheel teachings (spiritual, mental, emotional and physical) and the Seven Grandfather teachings (wisdom, truth, respect, honesty, bravery, humility and love).
Expected Launch Date: June 2022
Active in: Toronto Police Service Division 14
The 36 decisions approved by Council have been grouped into seven common themes:
A major theme from Council’s decisions 1, 5, 18 and 32, is the need for community-based crisis response model that do not require the presence or intervention of the police. This includes alternatives to police response for mental health crisis calls, wellness checks and low-level disputes between community members, like a neighbour dispute.
A new program advisory body will be established called the Community-Based Crisis Response Accountability Table. The Accountability Table will include Indigenous, Black and racialized leaders, mental health and addictions experts, advocates for the homeless and representatives from other equity-seeking groups.
The police service’s budget will be examined, along with ways to increase accountability and transparency in the police budget process, as noted in decisions 4 and 7.
For instance, the Toronto Police Service has posted its 2020 budget line-by-line, as well as the past five years’ budget summaries. City staff will post budget information to the City’s Open Data portal by early October.
To advance decisions 8, 9, 22 and 23, the City has asked the Province of Ontario to amend the Police Services Act to grant the City oversight into the Toronto Police Service budget, and scrutiny by the Auditor General.
The Toronto Police Services Board asked the City’s Auditor General to independently develop a work plan and perform audits of the Toronto Police Service to improve service delivery, identify specific areas of success and specific areas for improvement within the Service, and to find potential areas for savings and redistribution of funding (decision 10).
Decisions 13, 14 and 15 involve the selection and hiring process for the next police chief. A process is being created to seek input from public and community stakeholders, and Indigenous and Black communities on the values, skills and other criteria deemed important to be successful in the role. More information on how you can provide feedback to this process will be provided.
Information-sharing and transparency on police services policies and procedures is a good governance practice and critical to maintaining public confidence.
Decisions 6, 16, 17 and 30 direct the Toronto Police Service to work with the City to post key policies such as Use of Force, Toronto Police Services Board annual reports, and data associated with the police force’s Races Based Data Strategy on the Toronto Police Service website.
Police officer discipline and investigation of conduct is regulated by provincial legislation. Advancing decisions 19, 20, 21, 28 and 29, require legislative changes. City Council, with support from the Toronto Police Services Board, has asked the Province of Ontario that police discipline be reformed in line with recommendations from the 2017 Report of the Independent Police Oversight Review by The Honourable Justice Michael H. Tulloch.
Members of the public have voiced concern that previous police reform recommendations have not been fully implemented. Based on decisions 24, 25, 26 and 27, City staff and the Toronto Police Service are working together to develop an online tool by mid-October to assist the public in tracking and monitoring the progress of the implementation of police reform items. These decisions also request the status of the implementation or recommendations from the Race-Based Data Collection Policy, the Independent Review of Police Encounters with People in Crisis, the Report of the Independent Police Oversight Review, and the recommendations from the inquest into the death of Andrew Loku.
In keeping with the City of Toronto’s motto, Diversity Our Strength, the City is committed to acting to address anti-Black racism – as well as racism against Indigenous and equity-seeking communities – in order to build a city that is more inclusive, progressive and reflective of the values of its diverse members.
This commitment includes City Council’s unanimous adoption in 2017 of the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism (CABR) and the formation of a CABR unit, as well as the 2010 Statement of Commitment to Aboriginal Communities, ongoing commitment to truth and reconciliation and the creation of an Indigenous Affairs Office.
The purpose of the Alternative Community Safety Response Accountability Table is to bring together community leaders to monitor and support the development and implementation of the community-led safety response models that do not require the presence or intervention of the police, including mental health crisis calls, wellness checks and low-level disputes between community members.
The Table will include representation across sectors drawn from those working in policy, mental health and addictions services, homeless advocacy, Indigenous and Black serving organizations, organizations serving racialized and other equity seeking groups.
Representation at the Table will be reviewed and refreshed regularly to ensure a variety of the relevant sectors involved in community-led safety responses are represented and that individual representatives at the Table are highly engaged. Membership is voluntary and a public service. Members will not be paid.
The Table met quarterly throughout 2021 and will continue quarterly meetings in 2022.
Members serving on the Table will:
Engaging with the community is key to the City’s decision-making process. A number of different methods will be used to get feedback from various stakeholder groups.
A report was created to provide a summary of what we heard through community engagement and outreach activities. The report also provides an overview of what was proposed and approved by City Council in February 2021, and addresses the next steps of service implementation.
At the Fall 2020 roundtable discussions, the City partnered with the organizations below to host community roundtables on the different aspects of a community-based crisis response model.
To date, the City has completed two public surveys on an alternative community safety response model. We are happy to share the results of the first and second surveys with you. With this data, the City will then host a series of public consultations to guide future decisions in the design of these alternative models.
Our online dashboard will show you the progress the City has made on the 36 recommendations by City Council.
The dashboard will be updated regularly as progress continues to be made.
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