NOW Magazine
A “business as usual” police budget for unusual times
Despite calls to modernize, the city seems stuck in a cycle of ever-increasing billion-dollar police budgets for years to come By Enzo DiMatteo
Interim police chief James Ramer.
The Toronto Police Services Board has unanimously approved another billion-dollar budget request from Toronto police last week
The zero per cent increase for 2021 is being touted as “transformational.” But the creative accounting to arrive at a $1.076 billion figure amounts to “kicking the can down the road” for another year when it comes to the hard budget questions, which staff acknowledged under questioning from board members. Staff also identified the inability to draw on dwindling reserve funds to cover future budget costs as a growing concern.