London Police Services Board has accepted a recommendation from Chief Steve Williams to add 52 front-line officers to the service.
The board approved the recommendation at a meeting on April 21.
Williams brought forward the recommendation following a year that put “unprecedented demand” on the police service, resulting in redeployment of various front-line duty members including the community-oriented response unit.
“The London Police Service experienced an overwhelming demand for service in 2021,” Williams said. “While a year-over-year increase in dispatched calls for service was not deemed to be a significant workload factor, the nature of front police work has evolved.”
Williams said recent calls become more complex and increased in severity.
“To put it simply, calls are more complex to investigate, generate additional responsibilities for officers, and are more volatile than we have seen in the past,” Williams said.
“As a result, our service to the community has suffered greatly…The pace of work is not sustainable for our officers who are feeling the impacts.”
According to the patrol enhancements report Williams presented to the board, there were approximately 3,100 occasions in 2021 when frontline officers missed their relief periods while working 10 to 12-hour shifts or longer.
Williams’ report also states that public complaints related to response times have increased almost 300 per cent since 2019.
Police board chair Susan Toth said it’s clear the response times are inadequate.
“The board has been contacted by members of the public sharing heartbreaking stories of long response times — from small business owners dealing with break-ins to women reporting assault. The theme is clear. Response times are not meeting our community’s needs.”
Toth said police are seeing more violence and use of weapons, with use-of-force incidents increasing nine per cent in 2021 from 2020, according to the chief’s report.
Additionally, various service calls are involving complicated factors, including addiction and mental health crisis. According to Toth, those issues require skill and proper attention.
“It is to the detriment of our officers and the community when police are rushed, wait times increased, and calls for service become backlogged,” Toth said.
Williams added that emergency calls are up 72 per cent over a year.
He said that the additional officers will improve service response times, restore the policing capacity, and increase the number of officers on the community-oriented response unit, and help alleviate increased workloads all while ensuring community safety and wellness.
Williams hopes that all 52 front-line officers will be hired within the next two to three years, coinciding with the city’s new multi-year budget after 2023.
“It’s not practical or feasible to hire 52 officers immediately,” said Williams. “It would be a staged approach. Hopefully we’ll have some finer details in the coming months.”
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