Police staffing crisis looming, union says
Last Updated: Monday, August 25, 2008 | 8:33 AM ET
CBC News
The Toronto Police Association is warning that almost 1,300 Toronto police officers will be eligible to retire in the next five years, and a further 800 officers are already eligible for immediate retirement.
The association says if eligible officers take advantage of the retirement scheme it could cause a staffing crisis.
But Toronto Chief Bill Blair, who is one of the officers eligible to retire, dismisses the warning as a negotiating tool aimed at getting a new contract.
"I'm not going anywhere and neither are they," said Blair when asked about the situation late last week.
"There's much more to the decision of when to retire than when you are eligible for an unreduced pension," he said.
Blair said that so far this year about 200 of those eligible have announced they will be hanging up their badges, far fewer than those who qualify.
The chief said that, on average, officers stay two to three years after they become eligible to retire.
Senior officers with at least 23 years service also get a nine per cent bonus on top of any annual salary increases, the provision of a 2002 contract settlement.
But Dave Wilson, president of the Toronto Police Association, said the bonus isn't incentive enough anymore and a staffing problem looms.
"We are understaffed and everyone knows it," said Wilson. "The service is doing everything it can to hide the statistics about how understaffed we are.
"Toronto will be in a crisis situation shortly, and I'm not just raising alarm bells. I'm concerned that public safety will be impacted. I'm concerned my members' safety will be impacted," he said.
Wilson said that if conditions and pay don't improve for rank and file officers, more will head to the door.
Alok Mukherjee, the chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, denies the retirements are a problem, saying it exists "only in Mr. Wilson's mind and in his rhetoric. There is no problem or crisis."
The two sides failed to reach a settlement during contract negotiations and head to binding arbitration next month.
