The union representing Toronto Transit Commission special police officers is calling for the reversal of some recent personnel changes that they say may have hampered the response to the stabbing of a 17-year-old girl at a delivery station last weekend.
The incident took place around 16: 00 on Sunday at the bus bay of the station. Police say the victim was stabbed in the torso and taken to a local trauma center with non-life-threatening injuries.
The attacker, who was later revealed to be a 16-year-old girl, was able to flee the scene, police said, and was not caught until the next day.
The incident has prompted the union representing the TTC special police officer and transit enforcement officers to speak out about a recent reduction in the cop presence at the security dispatch desk, which is responsible for reviewing CCTV footage.
Previously, special police officers were stationed at the table 24/7. Since July 16, constables have been deployed from 6 am to 10 pm from Monday to Friday, the busiest period of the TTC. Outside of peak hours and on weekends, transit control workers work at the desk.
According to the TTC dispatch desk policies, only police officers and special management are allowed to request that security footage be reviewed – transit control staff can only observe the live broadcast.
“The ability to review criminal incidents with proper training, to assist officers on the ground with decision-making, is of great value to us. The civilian staff is not trained for this, ” Dariuisz Nosibotny, who is the president of CUPE 5089, told CTV Neambs Toronto in a written statement.
“Civilian staff are also not so familiar with repeat offenders that our police officers know well [and] they don’t have access to law enforcement information like BOLOs (be on the lookout) so they won’t recognize people wanted for crimes against our customers and employees.”
TTC PROTECTS THE CHANGE
TTC spokesman Stuart Green confirmed to Ctv Neambs Toronto that the footage taken from yankarden station at the time of Sunday’s incident was only reviewed after Toronto police requested the evidence from the commission, nearly three hours after the attack took place.
But he said the Union’s suggestion that safety is being compromised by recent personnel changes is wrong.
In fact, he said the changes have allowed the commission to place “more special constables on the front line.”
“In addition, we are creating a new dispatch function that will improve response times and coordinate responses between Special Police officers, security guards and street communications workers who are assisting in our security program,” he added.
In contrast to Nosiblotny, he says these changes will increase safety for riders and employees.
As for Sunday’s incident, Green confirmed that the footage taken by yankarden station at the time of the incident was only reviewed after Toronto police requested the evidence from the commission, nearly three hours after the attack took place.
The commission did not explain why a review had not been requested earlier.
While Notosiblny acknowledged that there is no way to know what might have happened on July 23 if special constables had been placed on the dispatch desk, the president said the value of having suspect information in real time cannot be underestimated.
“I’m sure someone can appreciate the benefits of responding officers having suspicious images on their cellphones as they arrive at the scene or knowing more definitively who is holding a gun, who is a suspect, or where the crime scene is exactly when answering service calls,” he said.”
THE COMPANY SAYS THAT MEMBERS ARE NOT
CUPE 5089 representatives have been quick to express their concerns about the changes made to the commission’s Implementation Department in recent months, which they say have left their department “insufficient and unused.”In January, they struck a decision to deploy 50 private contract security guards amid a wave of violence in the system.
READ MORETtc deploying 80 extra staff to focus on security amid rash of violence
Executive Director Leslie Kampf said at the time that they were “very disappointed but not shocked” to see the city increase its operations.
He also said that, for several years now, the commission has instructed union members to “move away from enforcement and the police.”
“TTC has failed in its obligation to its staff and customers to provide a safe transit system, so we understand why the mayor feels the need to address this deficit with additional resources,” Kampf said. “Our position is, and continues to be, to allow our highly trained members to do their job.”
According to an online panel launched by the ttc last month, violent crime in the system is trending.
The data reveals that the rate of violations reported against customers was 1.82 per million customers in May, a decrease of 32.6 percent from the rate in January, while the rate of violations against employees was 8.39 incidents per 100 employees in May 2023, a decrease of 3.3 percent from January.
In the meantime, Notosiblny is calling on the TTC to reinstate special police officers on the dispatch desk at all times.
“All law enforcement incidents will benefit from the immediate review of CCTV,” it said. “Any move to reduce this benefit is a detriment to a safe ttc.”
#Teenagers #injury #TTC #station #sparks #union #calls #roll #latest #security #policy