Toronto police will not be reducing the number of officers in its drug, gun and gang units despite reports saying personnel members for those teams will be slashed as the city deals with a rise in gun violence.
“We are keeping the same number of people who are working today, who are working next week,” Deputy Chief Barbara McLean told reporters outside police headquarters Friday afternoon.
“In the immediate, we are committed to staffing at the level that we need to address the guns and gangs in the city.”
The Globe and Mail cited police sources who say numbers in the drug, gun and gang units, will be reduced from six to four members per team.
Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray said in a statement to Global News early Friday that members of the drug and gang unit are being “realigned in order to effectively continue the work they have been doing.”
“The units alone are responsible for more than 625 arrests, 160 gun seizures, hundreds of search warrants and almost half a million grams in illicit drugs,” Gray said.
“But the fact remains, like other areas of the service, these units have seen a reduction in numbers as members retire, resign and move around to other units. In order to ensure the work of these units continues as efficiently as possible, the teams will be reorganized. They will continue to do the great work they’ve been doing supporting our frontline members and keeping our streets safe.”
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McLean clarified the force’s “realignment” plan as a process to better reflect the department’s resources.
“Realignment means, what do we need to do to best address where we need to be, where the public needs the service the most, how we need to take advantage of partnerships,” McLean said.
“We’re seeing some partnerships at the provincial level, at the city level and how do we address the complex needs of our city.”
Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack said officers he has spoken to are concerned about how the personnel changes will affect public safety.
“We’ve never seen a proliferation of firearms and violence that we’ve seen over the last four years,” McCormack said.
“We have seen a steady increase. This is not a blip. This is not an anomaly. This is the new way of doing business in Toronto. They are very concerned about the amount of guns they are seeing and the amount of gun play and public safety.”
Toronto police statistics show there have been over 300 shootings and more than 80 homicides so far this year.
The number of shootings prompted Toronto city council earlier this year to urge the federal government to ban the sale of guns and ammunition locally. Montreal issued a similar plea shortly thereafter.
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