*check against delivery*

Chief Myron Demkiw:

Good afternoon, everyone.

Chair, I also want to acknowledge that today marks 24 years since the September 11 attacks that shook New York, the United States, and the entire world.

Our thoughts are with the loved ones of the nearly 3,000 victims, and with our brothers and sisters in the NYPD and other first responders who lost their lives that day, giving everything they had to evacuate as many people as possible.

We continue to remember them, and to honour their sacrifice.

Chair, yesterday, we announced the arrest of a suspect in relation to JahVai Roy’s murder. 

A young person who was charged with first degree murder.

We also released the names of two remaining suspects.

JahVai was 8 when he was killed by a stray bullet in his home a few short weeks ago. 

This was an unimaginable crime.

Gun violence is devastating for families and communities impacted, and we continue to do everything we can to stop it.  

On this note, in a few minutes, I will update you on a renewed policing approach that focuses on community safety and wellbeing.

But before that, I will let my colleagues share a few updates.

First, I will turn it over to Acting Deputy Chief Matthews.

Acting Deputy Chief Joe Matthews:

Thank you, Chief.

Chair, so far this year in Toronto, auto thefts have decreased by 33% compared to the same time last year.

Break & enters have decreased by 13%, with 613 fewer incidents than last year.

Homicides have decreased by 51%, for a total of 30 compared to 61 at the same time last year.

Shootings and firearms discharges are down 40%.

And finally, Chair, so far this year as of this week, we have seized 405 crime guns.

Our officers are doing everything they can to prevent gun violence and arrest offenders, and as the Chief said, we continue to be relentless in this work.

Thank you, I will now pass it over to Deputy Chief Pogue.

Deputy Chief Lauren Pogue:

Thank you.

Chair, I want to update the Board today on some of the amazing work that the Downtown CORE Team is doing.

Chief Superintendent Skinner and Dr. Shovita Padhi from Toronto Public Health will have more to share during their presentation a little later, but as you know, in December, TPS and TPH launched the Downtown CORE Team as a one-year pilot project.

The goal of this project is to address complex health and social service needs among individuals experiencing homelessness, and challenges with mental health and substance use.

Since launch, the team has made nearly 4,900 meaningful client engagements. And beyond immediate outreach, the program also offers comprehensive case management services.

I would now like to play a video where you’ll see a few examples of how this program is helping people so far.

Our Corporate Communications team accompanied the Chief when he went to see the CORE Team in action to hear directly from our members and nurses, and the people they help.

Thank you, I will now pass it back to the Chief.

Chief Myron Demkiw:

Thank you, Deputy.

Chair, as we prepare to receive the Board’s strategic plan in the coming months, the service is embarking on the development of an operational roadmap to guide our efforts while we continue our multi-year hiring plan.

Our new roadmap will be rooted in the three priorities I committed to in 2022:

• To improve trust in and within the Service
• To accelerate police reform and professionalization
• And to support safer communities

Our roadmap will be focused on Community Safety and Wellbeing, while delivering policing services.

We will be working to anticipate, adapt, and stay focused on both current and long-term goals as an organization.

Earlier this year, we published our Command members’ priorities and these will continue to evolve and be informed by the Board’s strategic plan.

Toronto is Canada’s largest city and one of the most diverse cities in the world, shaped by complex urban realities.

The city’s challenges are layered:

• Rapid growth without sufficient housing;
• Economic inequality that varies block by block;
• Ripple effects of geopolitics;
• Neighbourhoods facing spikes in violence often driven by a small number of repeat violent offenders;
• And frontline situations rooted in mental health crises, addiction, and unmet social needs.

Earlier, I mentioned the arrest of a 16-year-old for the murder of an 8-year-old.

This year in 2025, 13 youths have been accused so far in relation to homicides in our city.

That’s not ok. That’s not acceptable.

As a society, we need to do better.

This is a time for a call-to-action for all levels of government and all stakeholders to step up and work collaboratively in a meaningful way to improve community safety and wellbeing.   

In this context, our renewed operational roadmap will guide our members and ensure our efforts are co-designed, co-developed, and co-delivered in a meaningful way with the communities we serve.

As you can see on the screen, our vision has six core pillars, with Community Safety and Wellbeing at the centre of everything.

All six pillars of our roadmap support one another.

First: The ‘Partner Better’ pillar. 

This is about strengthening partnerships with communities and businesses, and with health care, housing, and social services providers – not only to respond, but to plan together, work on prevention, address root causes, build real alternatives, and hold each other accountable.

The ‘Hyper-localize’ pillar: 

Of course, to partner better, we must know the communities we serve. This is why our strategy relies on a hyper-local approach.

By strengthening relationships with local residents, businesses, schools, and service providers, officers gain the insights and trust needed to intervene early, respond more effectively, and co-produce safety.

The ‘Use Data More’ pillar: We must be more deliberate in how we collect, interpret, and act on information.

Using data more, and using it well, strengthens every other pillar: identifying dangerous people, partnering more intelligently, and tailoring our approach to the realities on the ground.

The ‘Precise & Focused’ pillar: When we look at data, and because we know our communities, we know that a relatively small number of people do disproportionate harm to others.

This includes gang members who indiscriminately shoot into a neighbourhood, thieves who victimize people daily, and sexual predators and traffickers.

Under the Precise & Focused pillar, the Service will refocus on the individuals doing the most harm by partnering with the community to identify and address these dangerous people.

The ‘Standardize Investigations’ pillar: To be able to do all of this more effectively, we must standardize investigations.

This pillar is about facilitating our whole-of-Service approach to crime and breaking down operational silos.

Standardization also allows investigations and investigators to move more smoothly across units and divisions and it increases productivity.

And finally, our sixth pillar is ‘Healthy TPS.’

None of our goals can be achieved if we don’t have healthy officers in a healthy organization.

So, member wellness is and will continue to be a priority.

Now, Chair, this is an aspirational vision, and it will continue to evolve over the coming weeks and months, and be informed by the Board’s strategic plan.

We are confident that we are going in the right direction, and our approach will help us put in place the right changes and reforms to make our communities safer while increasing productivity.

Chair, to move this vision forward, we will continue to rely on all our members and our senior leaders, leaders like our newly promoted Inspectors.

Today, I want to introduce 29 newly promoted Inspectors who continue to demonstrate exemplary commitment to the Core Values, goals and objectives of the Service.

They all have outstanding skills in relation to community relationships, leadership, strategic thinking, planning, operations, and administration.

This is important because Inspectors are our senior operational leaders across the Service who work closely with our staff sergeants, sergeants, constables, and civilian professionals.  

I want to congratulate each and every one of them today.

I have every confidence that they will continue to be successful as they take the next step in their careers.

Thank you.