Limit paid duty to reduce burnout
Re Toronto does not need to hire more police officers, Opinion, Jan. 16
There is currently a lot of discussion that, partly due to overwork or staff shortages, police morale in Toronto is very low.
Although I realize that paid-duty police work is a nice source of extra income, it must result in officers getting burnt-out faster. Having days off is a way to avoid burnout.
Also, having highly qualified police officers stand at construction sites directing pedestrians (or talking on their phones) does nothing to demonstrate that police work is important or requires significant training. This surely contributes to lower self-worth. It’s time to restrict paid-duty police work in Toronto to occasions when police skills or powers are really required and, possibly, limit the number of paid-duty hours that anyone can accept. David S. Crawford, Toronto
Columnist John Sewell is right. Toronto does not need more police officers.
I like seeing police around, especially when they’re needed, but, for me, it’s a budget thing.
The military-security-police complex seems to get most of the money at budget time and there’s nothing left for anyone else.
I’d like to see total security budgets limited to 10 per cent of city spending. When total police costs add up to more than 10 per cent of a city’s annual budget, that’s too much policing. Max Moore, Toronto