Ford government wants more police in Ontario

Published December 12, 2019 at 1:15 am

Ontario is pledging to increase police presence across the province.

Ontario is pledging to increase police presence across the province.

The provincial government has recently announced it will be investing $195 million in police services over the next three years.

This money will be broken down into two streams.

The local priorities stream will receive $181 million of funding, which will be divided amongst 89 police services boards and used to combat local issues that are unique to each community.

The other $14 million of the funding will go to 18 police services boards across the province to combat issues that affect the entire province such as gun and gang violence, sexual violence and harassment, and human trafficking.

“Crime, and especially gun and gang violence, knows no geographical boundaries,” Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said in a news release.

“That’s why it is so important that we continue putting resources directly into the hands of police services across the province. They are the experts in maintaining public safety and our primary partners in keeping Ontario communities safe,” she continued.

For both streams, police services will be required to report annually on the outcomes of their initiatives–such as an increase in support for front-line officers and/or an increase in community safety and well-being.

“Our police services and their partners know best what they need to combat crime in their communities,” Jones said.

“The investment we are making today will help deploy additional frontline officers and take action where and when it is needed most,” she added.

Cover photo courtesy of opp_hire’s Instagram

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