March 2011
Re: TTC special constables worth the money (Joe Warmington , Toronto Sun, 3 March 2011):
it was a very short-sighted decision to disband the TTC Special
Constable Service. In fact, they should have been promoted “full police
officers” and given a full mandate for protection and enforcement of
TTC property. The TTC S/C Service was a specialized police service,
similar to railway police (who are armed police officers and federally
sworn under Section 44.1 of the Railway Safety Act), and they served a
valuable function. The TTC property was their specialty, and they were
good at what they did.
While Toronto Police may be able to province policing services to the
TTC, when there is another “G20”, where do you think the majority of the
“Transit Cops” will be deployed? If you think Toronto Police will make
transit enforcement a priority in an emergency situation, you should
take a look at Caledonia. When the poop hit the fan, the OPP redeployed
as many officers as they could from various detachments across the
province to respond to the Caledonia situation. Many municipalities
were robbed of officers because the OPP had more serious priorities
elsewhere. Don’t think for a second that will never happen in Toronto.
