The Toronto Police Association says it will grieve mandatory overtime included in the gun violence reduction plan recently unveiled by Chief Mark Saunders and Mayor John Tory, just three days before more officers are set to be deployed across the city.

Amid recent shootings, Tory and Saunders announced measures last week aimed at reducing gun violence. Central to the plan is putting the equivalent of 200 more officers on shift from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. for an eight-week stint starting Friday.

The additional staffing will be done in part through mandatory overtime, a plan the union claims proposes hours of work that violate the officers’ collective agreement.

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In a message sent to officers from the TPA board of directors Tuesday, the association says it has been “actively voicing our concerns” about the plan and will be grieving it. The forced overtime, the union says, “will add to the stress and fatigue of our members who are chronically understaffed.”

“We know Toronto has a gun violence problem that needs to be addressed, however we have told the Chief we disagree with his approach. Mandated overtime is a temporary measure to address the chronic understaffing issue and is not a sustainable plan,” states the message, which was obtained by the Star.

“Our members are committed to keeping the city safe and doing their job; however, this plan jeopardizes their ability to do just that.”

The message does not propose any immediate job action, such as refusing to work overtime or show up for a shift.

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In a statement Tuesday, Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray said the plan as proposed will move forward.

“It is within the chief’s authority to make these changes and, while a temporary plan, it will put officers on the street when we need them the most. It is consistent with the chief’s efforts to deploy our members appropriately, regardless of the overall number,” Gray said.

She added that a long-term solution would be a change to the shift schedule, “an issue that’s been raised for the last two years. We understand this is being discussed by the (Toronto police board) and the (TPA) and that positive strides are finally being made.”

The move by Tory and Saunders is not the first time Toronto police have introduced compulsory overtime during the busy summer months. In 2012, then-Chief Bill Blair announced plans to send the equivalent of hundreds more officers across the city via longer shifts.

McCormack also raised concerns about burnout at that plan but said there would be no resistance from officers.

“Our members are very professional and dedicated and they … will do whatever is required to put an end to this violence,” he told CityNews at the time.

Toronto police are in the midst of a modernization plan that seeks to gradually reduce the number of officers through more strategic deployment: in part, by transferring some duties, such as responding to noise complaints, to the city. Last year the service instituted a hiring freeze but, facing a higher than expected number of departures, later agreed to hire 200 more officers.

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The modernization efforts, and reduced officer numbers, saw Tory recently labelled a “direct contributor” to gun violence by a veteran Toronto police officer, whose letter criticizing the state of policing in the city drew significant support from some front-line officers.

As of last week, Toronto police had 4,934 uniformed police officers, roughly 170 officers fewer than this time last year. During 2005, the notorious Year of the Gun, there were 5,504 officers.

So far this year, Toronto has seen 220 shootings, up from 196 at this time last year. Twenty-seven of the shootings this year have been fatal, up from 17 at this time last year — though not far from 2016’s 25 fatal shootings by mid-July.

The total number of homicides is up this year, too, but the number includes 10 deaths in April’s van attack, which police stress was an anomalous event. Criminologists say crime trends should not be determined through comparisons from year to year, saying a longer timeline must be used.

Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and policing. Reach her by email at wgillis@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis

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