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Chief Myron Demkiw - Introduction

Good afternoon, everyone.

Chair, I am participating remotely today as I am recovering from a cold, so I will let my colleagues do most of the talking for our remarks. But first, I want to say a few words about incidents this week that are causing concerns in our communities.

First, the Kehillat Shaarei Torah Synagogue has experienced a 10th incident in the past year and a half.

Earlier this year, we announced the arrest of an individual in connection with two of these occurrences.  

We have spoken often in the past two years about the rising incidents of hate, and in particular incidents of antisemitism.

Our Service stands firmly against antisemitism. We recognize the harm it causes to individuals and communities, and we are dedicated to standing with our communities in a city where Jewish residents should feel safe and supported, and feel confident living openly Jewish lives.

The most recent incident at the Synagogue is under investigation, and we continue to work in close partnership with Synagogue staff.

Often, offenders are masked and wear clothing that conceals their identity. But make no mistake: this work will continue, and we will be relentless in our pursuit of those responsible.

And second, yesterday, there was a group of protesters that entered a private event without permission. Deputy Chief Johnson will provide an update in a few minutes.

Whether it’s this incident or during any other protest, I want to make something very clear: when people break the law, and when people interfere with or assault our officers, every step necessary will be taken in an effort to arrest and charge those responsible.

Chair, before I pass it over to my colleagues, I also want to address the Board’s 'What We Heard' report released last week.  

Our members and our communities shared valuable feedback through various engagements, and we are listening, and we are taking action.

We must continue to:

• Improve transparency in senior leadership decision-making
• Build authentic dialogue with communities and across Units
• Address understaffing, especially after a long period of austerity
• And enhance access to wellness resources and career development

In many areas, we are already making progress, even as we understand that we still have work to do.

Deputy Chief Pogue will talk about some of our ongoing work, and before I turn it over, I would just like to thank the Board for this report, and for your continued recognition that we need to invest in our Service and in our capacity to support our members.

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

Deputy Chief Lauren Pogue

Thank you, Chief.

Chair, as the Chief mentioned, some of the ongoing changes within our Service include:

• Our multi-year hiring plan;
• The creation of a new Operations Support Command;
• The expansion of our Neighbourhood Community Officers program;
• And the development of a Community Safety and Wellbeing roadmap to guide tangible areas of change

We are also making significant improvements at the call taker-dispatch level to support greater diversion of mental health-related calls, ensuring individuals in crisis are directed to appropriate resources.

The insights gathered in various reports and surveys this year will help us sharpen our focus, reassess priorities, and adapt ongoing initiatives to better meet the needs of members and our communities.

Chair, with respect to today’s Board meeting, we are presenting various reports, including the Annual Use of Force report and the Intimate Partner Violence Annual Report, both for 2024.

First, the Use of Force report.  

This report provides an overview of use of force training, updates to governance, and trend analysis regarding all levels of reported use of force incidents involving our members.

I would like to take a moment to highlight a few of its key findings.

What our report shows for 2024 is that there is a clear decrease in use of force.

Of the 411,607 Calls for Service Attended in 2024, only 0.46% required a Use of Force Report.

Overall, use of force incidents have decreased by 13.5% compared to the previous 4-year average.

This includes a 26.9% decrease in firearm discharges by our officers, and a 48.9% decrease in subject injuries.  

It’s essential to note that this decrease of use of force incidents occurred as our city continued to grow and as we see the proliferation of crime guns on our streets.

In fact, arrested persons increased by 39.2% last year.

De-escalation continues to be involved in nearly every use of force incident.

As you will see, the report reinforces the importance of our continued focus on de-escalation training and tactics to ensure safer outcomes for everyone.

In the interest of transparency, while we've seen a reduction in total use of force, we know that disproportionalities remain.

These disproportionalities are reflected in our race-based data analysis, which is driving the work we are doing to better serve our communities.

Chair, today, my colleagues will also present the first Intimate Partner Violence Annual Report.

As you will hear later, the report provides insight on the Service’s training, education, and community outreach activities.

As a Service, we recognize that Intimate Partner Violence is a serious public safety issue that has a direct and continued impact on survivors and families, as well as overall community safety and wellbeing in Toronto.

One of the core goals of our Community Safety and Wellbeing Roadmap is to break cycles of harm and victimization, ultimately leading to reduced violence and crime in our communities.

In addition to protecting individuals from intimate partner violence, we must recognize that children raised in homes where intimate partner violence occurs are at greater risk of adverse outcomes which can contribute to perpetuating cycles of violence.

Following this report, and as part of Intimate Partner Violence Awareness Month and Woman Abuse Prevention Month, the Service will take part in a series of initiatives and social media campaigns aimed at raising awareness and educating the public about available resources and support for victims.

Although we are highlighting this issue in November, it is also important to note that these are ongoing efforts throughout the entire year.

Partnering better with other agencies and with communities and using data more are two pillars of our Community Safety and Wellbeing Roadmap, and on this, I will pass it over to CTO Stairs.

Thank you.

CTO Colin Stairs

Thank you, Deputy.

Chair, along with the Intimate Partner Violence report, we are also making 11 years of IPV data available on the Toronto Police Public Safety Portal.

This is the first release of IPV open data by the Service, and it’s part of our commitment to transparency and public engagement.

The Service uses data to identify areas within each division where patterns of IPV incidents are reported.

These tools help us to develop crime prevention education activities and campaigns to raise community awareness.

In other words, data helps us to be more precise and focused in our approach.

Neighbourhood Community Officers, Crime Prevention Officers and SafeTO partners all contribute to these efforts, which include engagement sessions that meet the needs of the unique communities we serve, informational pamphlets and posters, and social media posts.

The Service also continues to work with relevant agencies and community partners to prevent and address the serious issue of Intimate Partner Violence.

Chair, before I pass it over to Deputy Chief Johnson who will share other numbers, I would like to mention that, today, the Service is also presenting its Annual Report on Training & Development.

The Toronto Police Service is deeply committed to strengthening police training, education, and professional development.

These are essential foundations for effective, accountable, and community-focused policing.

In 2024, a total of 68,175 internal course completions were recorded across a wide range of programs.

These courses were delivered not only by the Toronto Police College, but also by specialized units such as Traffic Services, Court Services, Intelligence Services, and the Emergency Management and Public Order Unit, among others.

This collaborative and decentralized approach helps ensure that training remains responsive to evolving operational needs and accessible to members across the organization.

As you know, a Healthy TPS is an important pillar of our Community Safety and Wellbeing roadmap.

With the insights provided by this report, along with information gathered through other sources—including the Board’s 'What We Heard' report mentioned earlier—we continue to prioritize training and member development to ensure that everyone in our organization is equipped to succeed as we serve our communities.

Thank you. I will now turn it over to Deputy Johnson. 

Deputy Chief Rob Johnson

Thank you, CTO Stairs.

Chair, as the Chief mentioned earlier, protesters forcibly entered a private event yesterday in the downtown area.  

After police arrived, some of the protesters obstructed officers and one individual assaulted an officer while attempting to prevent an arrest.

So far, 5 people have been arrested and charged with various offences.

Some suspects remain outstanding and our teams, including our Hate Crime Unit, are reviewing video evidence. This investigation is ongoing, and more charges could potentially be laid.

This underlines the importance of Project Resolute. Since October 7, 2023, there have been 3,596 total Protests and Demonstrations in the City of Toronto. In the same time, there have been 737 Protests and Demonstrations related to Project Resolute resulting in 163 arrests and 294 charges in total.

Regarding other community safety indicators, year-to-date this week, compared to last year, auto thefts have decreased by over 30%.

Break & enters are down more than 12%.

Homicides are down almost 54%.

And shootings and firearms discharges are down over 43%.

So far this year, as of October 27, we have seized 438 crime guns.

While we have made meaningful progress on many indicators this year, we are mindful of long-term trends, and we recognize that we need to continue our efforts as much as ever.

Take gun violence, for example.

We addressed last year’s spike in gun violence by strategically allocating the right resources to the right places, ensuring our efforts were focused where they were needed most.

As part of our Community Safety and Wellbeing roadmap, we will continue to be precise and focused.

Whether it’s gun violence, response times, or other challenges, having more officers as a result of our multi-year hiring plan helps us deploy resources strategically.

Increasing police presence where it’s needed and enhancing our investigative capacity are key to our response efforts.

We remain committed to doing everything we can to drive down crime rates.

Chair, before we conclude our remarks today, I want to highlight that this week is Crime Prevention Week in Ontario.

This is an opportunity to remind everyone that safety is a shared responsibility.

So, all week, we are sharing tips on how to help prevent crime, whether it’s education about scams and frauds, programs for youth, or ways to spot distraction theft.

I also want to say a few words about the World Series.

We want to thank once again our Toronto Police Service members for their incredible work.

We also want to thank Torontonians, who were truly the best hosts over the past few weeks, and all of our partners with whom we continue to strengthen our relationships.

The World Series, and hosting Canada’s baseball team, is yet another example of the increasing number of major events Toronto is hosting, more often and on a larger scale, including FIFA coming next year.

We are proud of the way our Service and our members continue to show up to serve and protect this city every single day.