Major community leaders are throwing their weight behind the London police chief's record setting budget request.
The heads of London Health Sciences Centre, St. Joseph's Health Care London, Western University, Fanshawe College, the Thames Valley District School Board, and the London District Catholic School Board gathered with police board members and Chief Thai Truong at police headquarters on Wednesday to urge council and Londoners to support the $672 million ask.
London Police Services Board (LPSB) Chair Ali Chahbar said the budget reflects what people in the city want in order to feel safe, including more officers, modern technology, and better training.
"Safety in any city, including London, is foundational. It is crucial. It is a core element of the health and vibrancy and well-being of our beautiful city," Chahbar said. "The truth is, that London is no longer a safe city. If you ask most Londoners, they'll tell you that they feel the same."
Chahbar added that people feel that roads, neighbourhoods, and the downtown core all feel less safe than they once did. He went on to city a number of statistics about the city including that London has the second lowest officer-to-population ratio in Ontario, the third-highest rate of violent crime, and response times that average from seven hours to four days. He also pointed out that shootings in the city jumped from eight in 2017 to 25 in 2023.
"We all know that Londoners deserve better," Chahbar said, adding that the board spent months reaching out to people while putting the police budget together. "We've done extensive community consultation. We reached out to over 300 community groups. We've heard from BIAs, neighbourhood associations, and representatives from education, hospitals, and healthcare."
Chahbar described the safety of the Forest City as a collaborative, shared responsibility and introduced the leaders of education and healthcare in London, who were there to advocate for the budget proposal.
London Health Sciences Centre corporate hospital administration executive Brad Campbell said that healthcare is viewed differently now than it has been in the past.
"We can only collectively care for the health of the fastest growing city in the province, and one of the fastest growing in the country, if we do so in partnership."
He added that London Police Services is one of those crucial collaborators, especially in terms of mental health emergency responses.
"London police currently respond to 5,000 of these calls every year," Campbell said.
"While it's important that healthcare workers be the first point of care for those with acute mental health needs, we greatly value our police partners as first responders and the role that they play with our most vulnerable clients," he added. "The [LPSB] plan 'A Safer City Now', is one that will increase collaboration, improve response times, and make our city safe."
Campbell then asked that London city council pass the plan during budget deliberations.
Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) Education Director Mark Fisher also spoke in favour of the police budget request.
He cited the unique relationship between the police and the public school board. He mentioned that many officers are graduates of one of TVDSB's 160 different schools, many of their children attend those same schools, and as an employer of 14,000 people, many of their partners may work for the board.
"On multiple occasions, we have reached out to London Police Services for support and they have been there in our darkest hour," Fisher said. He added that, "In the post-pandemic era we are dealing with levels of dysregulation and challenges among students and student behaviour that we really didn't have to deal with previously."
Fisher called police a valued partner of the school board and commended their investment in a strong, safe city.
He recalled a protest outside the board's office on Dundas Street last September that drew more than 2,000 demonstrators for and against LGBTQ-inclusive education policies in the classroom. Dispute becoming heated at times, police kept the two sides apart with no violent clashes, arrests or injuries.
"Our schools are microcosms of larger society, so anything we can do to make our city safer, we fully support," he concluded.
London District Catholic School Board Education Director Vince Romeo, Fanshawe College President Peter Devlin, and Western University President Alan Shepard also spoke in support of the police budget on Wednesday.
"Great cities need decent policing," Shepard said. "(The proposal) will help make London an even stronger destination of choice for young leaders and professionals and their families."
London Police Chief Thai Truong said that he was honoured and humbled to have the support of so many community leaders.
"My officers and I will always support our healthcare workers, our campus security partners, our teachers and principals, and our students and residents," said Truong. "I'm grateful for the support of our partners and the board's plan for 'A Safer City Now.'"
When asked about certain higher-cost items in the budget proposal, such as a new armoured vehicle, Truong was very adamant.
"We're the third most dangerous city in the province amongst the big 12 if you're looking at the crime severity index. That's something to think about," he stated. "In the last three years, we have never, ever seen the amount of shootings that we have now. We almost tied our record, the actual number was 27 last year, 28 is the most we've ever seen in the city. That's unacceptable. That's putting a lot of people in danger. So, as we have a rise in violence and shootings and we have unprecedented seizures of firearms and illegal weapons in this community, that's a big problem for our community, that's a big problem for our membership. Our officers go to work every day and put themselves in harm's way. There's no such thing as a routine traffic stop, there is no such thing as a routine day at work," he added.
Truong also addressed his reposting of a controversial social media post from the London Police Association that supported his budget, but referred to those who advocate to defund the police as "radical defund the police zealots".
"As the chief of police getting the support from the association to support the budget is fantastic... My thanks to the association was a 'thanks for supporting the budget'," said Truong. "There’s a lot of emotions and feelings that have been in this community and impacted by our membership and our officers, and the community. People want to be heard. But my response and my thanks was to the association, thanking them for supporting the budget.”
Chahbar summed up the big budget ask as a comprehensive package. He added that everything the board is asking for is reflected in the plans of other community groups and the desires of community members. When asked if he thought having the advocacy from all of these groups would help convince taxpayers that the large police ask would be worth the impending tax increase, Chahbar responded, "In a single word? Yes."
The business case from police to modernize the force and hire 189 new employees is expected to dominate city council's budget deliberations. As it stands now, London taxpayers are facing a four-year average property tax hike of 7.4 per cent.
A public participation meeting on the draft city budget will be held at city hall on February 27, with final approval of the document expected to be granted by council on March 5.
