Amid a high number of shootings and concerns over traffic enforcement and public safety, the Toronto Police Services Board on Monday unanimously approved an “enhanced” 2020 operating budget that makes room for hundreds of new hires and surpasses $1 billion.

The board is asking for an increase of $40.8 million — up 3.9 per cent from the 2019 budget — which brings the total operating budget to $1,076,200,000. Nearly 3 per cent of the increase is to meet collective bargaining requirements.

The proposed budget includes funding for the hiring of 341 uniformed officers by 2021, for a net increase of 140 officers for priority response units, eight new officers for traffic enforcement and 40 net new officers for the services neighbourhood officer program. The remaining hires will cover for retirements.

The budget also calls for five new positions in the service’s equity, inclusion and human rights unit and for the implementation of the body worn cameras program.

The board also approved a capital budget, a parking enforcement budget and a police board budget. All of the budgets now go to the city’s budget committee for consideration in January.

Calling the service fiscally responsible in recent years, Chief Mark Saunders wrote to the board’s budget committee last month in a report justifying the increase.

“Investments are required in order to meet the needs of a growing and complex city,” said Saunders.

“It is not sustainable to continue to offset exceptional growth with efficiencies and staffing reductions and also continue to deliver service levels that keep the city safe. Further, the nature of crime and policing is evolving and continues to become more complex.”

The new hires would bring the total number of police officers to 5,038 by 2021, up from the current count of 4,754 — a compliment initially discussed as a goal as part of the 2017 Toronto police modernization plan.

As of last Monday, 270 people had been killed or injured in shootings this year, according to police. That is dozens more than the highest year-end total in police data that goes back to 2004.

While police often ask for funding increases for specific initiatives, the result of that increased spending is not always certain. The most recent example is a $4.5-million project funded by three levels of government that was aimed at reducing the alarming numbers of people being shot. While the program was successful in getting 247 firearms off the streets and making 463 arrests, shootings did not abate during its 15-week term, the results of which were made public last week.

Community advocates and academics have long called for proportionate or increased funding of social support programs in response to spikes in violence — programs that have been proven to help families and make cities safer, and cost effective in the long run.

The board’s budget committee, comprised of new board chair Jim Hart and board member Marie Moliner, heard from those concerned about the budget increase at a Dec. 5 meeting, which was also webcast.

Among those voicing concern was John Sewell of the Toronto Police Accountability Committee, who wrote in a submission that the police staff is “expanding quite considerably” and that deployments to traffic and other areas of need could be done with existing staff.

Uniform staffing declined steadily from 2013 to 2018, dropping from average officer deployments of 5,615 to 4,797, Saunders noted in his report. However, deployments during the busiest hours for priority response units — 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. — declined only slightly due to “strategic deployments.”

Mayor John Tory said the 3.9 per cent increase is above the “watermark” for other years, but that it is time to invest in order to tackle gun violence while at the same time working on restoring trust in police.

“I am supportive of this budget,” said Tory, who is also a member of the police board.

In a statement, Hart said the board understands the city is “experiencing significant growth, along with increasingly complex law enforcement challenges.

“We also understand that the public expects professional policing when and where the public needs us, and an approach that relies on innovation and technology to deliver more effective and efficient services. We believe that these budgets fulfil the expectations of the public, delivering trusted and effective service in response to the increasingly complex needs of Toronto’s communities.”

Nearly 90 per cent of the budget is spent on people. In addition to officer hires, the budget calls for the hiring of 150 civilian staff.

Monday’s meeting included an update on the service’s new policy on the keeping, recording and analysis of race-based data, which begins Jan. 1 with an initial phase of keeping data on use-of-force incidents and strip searches.

The service has retained Grace-Edward Galabuzi, associate professor in politics and public administration at Ryerson University, to develop training curriculum.

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“Galabuzi’s unique expertise gained through extensive work in justice and social development policy as well as his leadership in the community will enable the development of a relevant curriculum for officers to understand the context and impact of collecting race-based data on some communities,” Saunders said in a report to the board.

So far, ongoing public consultations on the policy and implementation have raised questions around self-identification of race versus police recording based on perception, and calls for similar race-based data and other details to be kept on police officers.

The board also endorsed a memorandum of understanding between the service and a group of mothers from the Somali community who have had their families impacted by violence. The relationship between the group, Mending a Crack in the Sky, and police was highlighted recently in the Star.

The goal is to build relationships and trust.