Toronto police closing fewer cases than they did last decade, their own figures show
CBC
Before the Toronto police board voted to approve a $46.2-million budget increase request for next year, a police director explained that case closure rates have dropped for most crimes since 2015.
"That's because investigations take time and effort and resources," Toronto police director of information management, Ian Williams told the board earlier this month.
But while police say lower closure rates are one reason why they need increased funding, experts are conflicted about whether they're an accurate measure of police achievement — and whether the figures should be used to justify more resources.
"They put all sorts of stuff in the board meeting asking for more money," said John Sewell, coordinator for the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition and former city mayor.
"Closure rates don't mean anything useful in terms of telling us what the police are doing," he said.
The need to close more cases and give victims closure was also cited in this year's budget decision, with a briefing to the city's budget committee noting the service has "among lowest of case closure rates for Canadian police services."
City council is set to vote on next year's police budget after the new year.
Shelley Carroll, the city's budget chief, was not available for an interview. Mayor Olivia Chow and Ann Morgan, chair of the Toronto Police Board, deferred to Toronto police.
The definition of case closures can vary across units and involve multiple factors, said Toronto police spokesperson Nadine Ramadan. A case can be closed when:
Ramadan said the volume of reported incidents, the finite number of investigators, and time it takes to close cases are all factors behind the lower rates. She said closures are just one way to measure progress and more resources for staffing could increase the likelihood of finding offenders and closing cases.
"What I'd like to know is how many charges are laid and how many of those charges actually proceed to a trial in court," Sewell said.
While it's "dangerous" to consider case closures as a measurement of productivity, they can show the resources police need, says Donna Kellway, president of the Ontario Crown Attorneys' Association.
"If you've got the same amount of resources and increased calls coming in, then it only makes sense that your case closure rates would be lower," she said.
While case closure rates rose by 28 per cent for homicides from 2015 to 2023, they were down for nine out of 12 other types of incidents over the same time period, including sexual violation (down 31 per cent), theft over (down 43 per cent) fraud (down 83 per cent), traffic fatalities (down 19 per cent) and assault (down 16 per cent).
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