The Toronto Police Association is encouraging its members to wear union ball caps to protest what its president calls “empty promises” from police leadership to fix low staffing levels.

“We want to see a sign of solidarity, a sign of unity. We want to send a message to the chief, the chair and the mayor that we are together on these issues,” Mike McCormack says in a video message to Toronto officers released Thursday, announcing what he calls “phase two” of its protest against modernization plans within the Toronto Police Service.

The move prompted a lengthy internal message from Chief Mark Saunders Thursday, assuring officers he was listening to their needs and detailing how he was responding to union and officer demands.

“I, and my command, have and will always make time to listen to your ideas, concerns and issues,” Saunders wrote in the internal message to all officers, obtained by the Star through a police source Thursday night.

Stressing solidarity “for the right reason is something that is important in any industry — especially law enforcement,” said Saunders.

But he also said he would soon crack down on officers donning the ball caps in place of their service-issued hat.

“In the spirit of solidarity, I will allow you to wear the ball caps for a short period of time until I lawfully order you to return to your forage cap. The (Police Service Act) is clear of the effect of lawful orders given by me,” Saunders wrote.

The police union’s move comes just over a month after it released a joint statement with the Toronto Police Service and its civilian board announcing changes aimed at addressing problems with staffing levels, caused in part by a higher-than-anticipated number of staff departures.

The central fix was a temporary lifting of a three-year hiring and promotions freeze. The statement announced 80 new officers would be recruited by the end of 2017.

But McCormack now says the hiring and training schedule for the new recruits means all 80 won’t be on the road until January 2019. Meanwhile, 203 uniform members have left Toronto police this year and more are expected to depart by year’s end.

“The carpet got pulled out from under our feet,” McCormack said in an interview Thursday.

In his internal message, Saunders said the service has received 116 applications since Tuesday, when the service officially announced the recruiting process had opened. Some applications came in from other police services.

“That tells me that we are still an employer of choice and that people want to join one of the best police services in North America,” Saunders said in the message.

A Toronto police news release this week said the service was “now accepting applications for the position of cadet-in-training,” but did not include any deadline for application, or any details about deployment.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Mayor John Tory, who sits on the police board, said “every one of the issues” that the union expressed concerns about is being addressed “as we speak,” including the hiring of officers.

Approved by the police board earlier this year, the Toronto police’s transformational task force plan, dubbed The Way Forward, found $100 million in savings for the police service’s operating budget over three years. Sixty million dollars of savings would come from the three-year freeze on hiring and a moratorium on promotions.

The report also recommended no new uniform officers be hired over three years, with the end goal to reduce the number of officers to about 4,750 by 2019.

The union has said it has yet to see the data to show how that number was decided upon; as of July, the Toronto police employed 5,100 police officers.

The police union has for months been critical of the Way Forward plan, claiming officer ranks have been depleted to critically low levels, causing safety issues.

McCormack has also raised the alarm about wait times for 911 calls, saying they are up due to decreased staffing, and was equally critical of Saunders and the police board for dealing too slowly with staff promotions.

In his internal message, Saunders addressed both concerns, saying a new class of communications operators will start working next month, and that he’s tasked one of his deputy chiefs to conduct a high-level review.

“Based on her feedback, I am moving a superintendent to support Communications and will be taking immediate steps to get more people on the floor,” Saunders wrote.

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The chief also said he will be submitting a report to the police board to ensure that Toronto police employees, both sworn and civilian, who qualify will be promoted “as soon as possible.”

With files from David Rider

Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca

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