John Barber, the veteran Globe and Mail columnist, says in his column of May 20 (“Police say ‘nay’ when it comes to disclosing cost of horses”) that “[b]y any rational standard, cutting the mounted unit is the first efficiency municipal leaders should institute as the police budget soars above a mind-boggling $1-billion for the first time.” Mr. Barber quotes Mariana Valverde, a professor of criminology at the University of Toronto, who complains that a culture of secrecy frustrated her attempt to find out how much it costs to operate the Mounted Unit, thus thwarting her “efficiency campaign.”
The complaints against the Board’s management of the cost of policing include:
- Not making “any kind of effort to look at efficiencies such as using bicycles instead of the mounted unit."
- Not “wanting to rock the boat in any way."
- Having “an extremely low profile.”
- Not having a “public debate on how the police are spending our money.”
I think it is important to set the record straight.
1. Public debate on police budget
I believe the evidence speaks for itself. Every year that I have been on the Board, we have held public budget consultations and held a special Board meeting to invite public comment on the budget we proposed to take to the City. In addition, we have held extensive public consultations in different parts of the City to develop our 3-year Business Plan, which dictates to a considerable extent how the annual budget will be allocated.
Invitations for all of these consultations have been sent out widely. Besides, the Board website contains all sorts of information, including the entire annual budget and a popular explanation. Members of the public are invited to make suggestions electronically, if they cannot attend the consultations.
2. Culture of secrecy
With a quick visit to the Board website and a little bit of homework, anyone can figure out what is spent on any particular item, including the Mounted Unit.
And as for not wanting “to rock the boat in any way,” I am not quite sure what that means. If it means berating, belittling or beating up on the Chief of Police over a megaphone, the Board is guilty as charged.
3. Looking for efficiencies
This Board spends a great deal of time on the budget, scrutinises each line item, questions every Command officer and Unit Commander, asks for detailed justification and explanation on large items, such as overtime payments, insurance costs, training expenses, etc., and publishes the budget proposals for public knowledge and input.
The Board monitors the budget regularly and has worked with the Chief to return, year after year, millions of dollars in unspent funds to the City. The Board scrutinises every large contract before giving its approval, and on major projects, demands detailed reports on a regular basis.
Gone is the practice – prevalent even in days of megaphone communication – of spending every dime or concealing expenses from the Board and the City. On the Board’s directive following the City of Toronto Auditor General’s report on a major IT system, e-COPS, which showed that some 14 million dollars of overexpenditure had not been reported to the Board, every large project carried out between 1999 and 2004 was reviewed, and based on the findings, a strict project management and public reporting system implemented by the Service and the Board.
Fiscal management is more transparent and accountable than at any time before.
This Board assembled a group of financial experts – not criminologists who don’t have the expertise – to scrutinise the budget and give advice on ways to achieve efficiency over the short and the long term.
This Board and this Chief have instituted several measures to make the running of the police service efficient and effective – and socially responsible. Some examples:
- All our new buildings are green and energy efficient. In the massive new training facility, for example, geothermal energy will provide almost 80% of the energy needed for heating and cooling. Environmental design will reduce energy need.
- Our vehicle fleet is changing. We have a plan for acquiring smaller, more energy efficient vehicles, including hybrids to replace older vehicles.
- We have installed deep water cooling in the headquarters to replace use of conventional energy.
- More and more of our police officers and parking enforcement officers are getting out of their cars and walking or bicycling.
- Our electronic disclosure projects are helping us find ways to cut down on the printing of millions of sheets of paper.
- With better human resources practices, such as emergency child care, diet education, wellness and return to work programs, absenteeism is down and more of our employees are at work.
The list goes on.
4. Managing for value – a key element
A key element of this effort is our focus on “managing for value”. To this end, our Chief Administrative Officer, supported by the Chief, has issued guidelines that require all managers to pay attention to considerations such as the following:
- TPS relies on the City for money to fund both its operating and capital budget requirements. The City continues to operate in a very difficult financial environment - funds are limited for a number of competing priorities. The Service must, therefore, do its part to use taxpayer money wisely and get the greatest return from every dollar that it spends.
- It is important that the Service not only come in on budget but that it achieves what it sets out to do.
- Managing for Value means doing the right things, the right way. It means challenging the status quo and past practices from time to time, and making changes to ensure we consistently achieve our public safety objectives and the Service/Board priorities as cost-effectively as possible.
- Since almost 90% of the Service's budget is spent on salaries and benefits, it is critical that quality and qualified people are hired, consistent with the Service's values and diversity objectives - it is also important that our people are properly trained and have the information, skills, equipment and other tools to effectively do their jobs.
- A lot of money is invested in various assets such as vehicles, facilities and computers. We must, therefore, take the necessary steps to ensure these assets are properly maintained and protected from loss or damage.
- The Service buys goods and services required for its operations. These purchases must be done through a fair, open, transparent, efficient and effective procurement process that results in the best price/value to the Service. The contracts that result from these procurements must also be properly managed to hold vendors accountable for delivering what they said they were going to deliver and at the price quoted.
- Information is essential to day to day operations and decision making. As such, we must buy and implement information systems that provide Service members with the information required and that the information is reliable and timely.
- It is important that processes and procedures are regularly reviewed and improved as necessary to ensure they are efficient, effective, value added and contribute to achieving the Service's objectives and priorities.
- Much the same as our operating budget, the Service's capital budget is also limited, so it is important we commit to the right capital projects that meet our priorities and strategic objectives. The capital projects must also be properly managed to ensure the deliverables are achieved, and projects are completed on time and on budget.
- As a public sector organization, the Service does not have a real "bottom line," so key indicators must be established to measure how well the organization is doing in delivering public safety services to the community. This requires the measurement of both outputs (eg. number of arrests made) and, more importantly, outcomes (major crime rates and quality of life indicators) that show if we are helping to keep and make the community safer.
Clearly, the Board and the Service are engaged in changing how we do business. And, that, as any expert will tell you, is how you build an efficient, effective and accountable organization.
By the way, the cost of running the Mounted Unit is $7 million, as a visit to the on-line budget and a little homework will tell anyone.
