Police chief proposes new Vision Zero enforcement team amid spike in collisions

Amid growing public pressure to crack down on dangerous drivers, T​​​​​​oronto police Chief Mark Saunders is pushing for the creation of a dedicated traffic enforcement team.

Saunders' proposal is included in a report that will be considered by the Toronto Police Services Board at its next meeting on Nov. 21.

It comes as the number of collisions on city streets continues to increase each year. Previously, Saunders has promoted technology as the key to safer streets and resisted calls to boost the number of officers enforcing traffic rules in the city.

The report, signed by Saunders himself, notes that so far in 2019, 48 people have died in collisions in Toronto. Thirty-five of those are vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists.

"These are not just numbers, these are our community members; each of these deaths were preventable," the report says.

"Too often, driver's speed, distraction, aggressiveness and impairment were identified as contributing factors in the collision."

The new unit would consist of six constables and two sergeants from Traffic Services working Monday through Friday in two shifts. The hours would be overtime for those officers. Saunders is asking the police services board for $1-million to pay for the unit to operate between January and early December next year.

The team would be dedicated to enforcement in support of Toronto's Vision Zero plan.

Last enforce team disbanded

Such a team previously operated in the city between 2003 and 2012. Known as "Strategic Targeted Enforcement Measures," the unit was "highly visible, pro-active and focused on high collision locations, community safety zones, high speed areas and other locations where the public was at risk," the report says.

In that period, Toronto police handed out 125 per cent more traffic tickets than in the previous decade and the number of collisions in the city decreased by 24 per cent. 

"This team strategically deployed its resources throughout the city and were effective in changing driver behaviour," the report says.

From 2013 to 2018, the years after the team was disbanded, the number of traffic collisions in Toronto went from about 55,000 per year to nearly 80,000 per year.

The dissolution of the unit coincided with an overall reduction in the size of the city's police force. As the total number of officers declined, enforcement priorities shifted primarily to emergency calls.

'Residents are saying enough is enough'

In response to calls for a renewed focus on enforcement, Saunders has typically responded by saying that new technologies — such as cameras at red lights and in school zones — offer the most promise for changing how motorists behave on city streets.

"I have been a huge proponent to technology. We have done research and research shows that in cities that use technology, in some cases, fatalities were reduced 25 per cent," he said in a September interview with CBC Radio's Metro Morning.

But Saunders' report is an acknowledgement that police have not been doing enough to enforce the rules of the road, says city Coun. Josh Matlow.

Matlow, who represents Toronto-St. Paul's,  has brought forth several motions in the past calling for more police resources for traffic enforcement to little avail. He says that constituents often tell him about drivers speeding through neighbourhoods and blowing through stop signs.

"They think there's not going to be any consequence and they're right. There is virtually no police presence in those neighbourhoods. And residents are saying enough is enough," he says.

"If they think they could get caught that day, then they may change their behaviour. And that's what we're after."

Matlow adds that he is "concerned" that the new enforcement team will rely on overtime hours for member officers.

"This should be a basic part of the service police provide with respect to enforcing the law that's already on the books," he says.

"There should be more adequate personnel allocated throughout all the police divisions."

'It's about time'

Heather Sim, whose father Gary was killed by a distracted driver in Toronto in 2017, called Saunders' proposal a "step in the right direction.

"This is something we've known we've needed for a while now. So it's about time,' she says.

"It's not going to fix everything but they finally admitted and recognized that there is a problem and something needs to be done."