People calling 911 in Toronto lately have been shocked to find themselves waiting on hold for multiple minutes, spurring concern over the city's apparent lack of resources to adequately address emergencies.

While this has been blamed on a lack of dispatchers and ambulances, as well as on the public clogging up the lines with non-urgent issues, some first responders are now doubling down on their criticism of local government for not doing their part to support these services.

The Toronto Police Association has reached out to residents through mailers this week, urging them to contact their local councillor and Mayor Olivia Chow to "invest in their safety" so police can get to where they're needed, faster.

Message from the Toronto Police Association in my mailbox today
byu/Redux01 intoronto

The flyer gives the key reasons that the public has to wait for officers to arrive when called, citing an 18 per cent uptick in emergency calls this year and 21 per cent rise in major crimes across the city.

"It takes us over 22 minutes, on average, to respond to the highest priority emergency call," the association notes, adding the concerning point that "60 per cent of the time, there are no units immediately available to respond to an emergency."

But, the main crux of their push is the fact that Toronto's population has risen 13 per cent since 2010, but 600 officers have been culled from the force over the same timeframe, representing an 11 per cent reduction in personnel — hence their demand for more funding from the City.

You may be receiving a postcard from the Toronto Police Association in the mail. Make your voice heard! Please email your local councillor to ask them and Mayor Olivia Chow to invest in your safety. #TPAProud pic.twitter.com/PIQaJxOGn0

— Toronto Police Association (@TPAca) December 8, 2023

In response to the leaflet, people on Reddit are acknowledging the force's plight, but are suggesting that cops perhaps first be pulled from paid duty and traffic enforcement roles so they can be "freed up for actual police work."

Others propose that the force save money by nixing paid-duty leave for officers facing criminal charges — and perhaps cut salaries for officers in general.

"Maybe stop paying them literally hundreds of thousands of dollars a year when their deliverables — crime rates and response times — are, in their own words, shit," one person commented.

"Why do we have fully trained and licensed cops guarding the f***ing LCBO? I know they pay to rent them but like, if the TPS resources are stretched, maybe they shouldn't be renting them out?"

So this has been going on since at least Tess Richey's murder in 2018.
The communication centers for 911 Police and EMS can't retain the dispatchers,they're burning them out faster than they can replace them. By 2023 it's feature not a bug.

— blob bobblob (@AlphaAndromedae) June 29, 2023

Some were more sympathetic, saying that if police are being expected to handle more work with less workers, that is undoubtedly an issue.

"When staff are cut and workloads increased... That's a factor in almost any business," one person said.

But, as many were happy to identify, the much-criticized police budget for the city was a whopping $1.16 billion in 2023, which marks a slight increase from 2022 and a huge jump from previous years. As one person said, "If the TPS has fewer cops on a larger budget, that sounds like a TPS management issue, not a funding issue."

In response to slow response times, the Auditor General last year recommended that the Toronto Police Service "review its staffing strategies and address challenges with staffing levels"

The TPA did not respond to blogTO's request for further comment in time for publication.