Managing for Value – Using Public Money Efficiently and Effectively

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.

Chair Mukherjee’s Blog Returns

Several people have asked me if I would be resuming my blog. I am pleased to be back after a few months’ hiatus! Here is the first blog of 2009.

Alok Mukherjee
Chair, Toronto Police Services Board

The Federal Government’s Anti-Crime Legislation and
A Public Health Approach to Community Safety

On February 26, Prime Minister Harper held a news conference in Vancouver during which he announced that his government would introduce tough new anti-crime legislation. According to the Prime Minister, this new legislation will prevent crime and make Canadian streets safer by cracking down on gangs and extending prison sentences.

The new legislation will make gang-related killings a first-degree murder offence and give mandatory minimum sentences for drive-by shootings. It will also provide additional protection for police and peace officers. The proposed legislation would create new offences for both aggravated assault against a police officer and assault with a weapon against a police officer. These crimes would each carry 14-year sentences.

Opinion is divided, both among politicians and criminologists, as to whether lengthier sentences increase public safety. Ujjal Dosanjh, the Liberal MP for Vancouver South and former public safety critic, said that while "tougher sentences are appropriate," the government must also focus on preventing people from getting involved in criminal activities in the first place. Similar views have been expressed by members of the other Opposition parties.

University of Ottawa criminologist Irwin Waller expressed the view that more jail time will not curb the kind of violence that the government wants to halt. "This is yet again a debate about penalties when it's very clear from looking south of the border that these penalties do not make a lot of difference to the number of people killed," Waller told The Canadian Press.

There is broad consensus that tough penalties and forceful enforcement of the Criminal Code alone do not make streets safer. These must go hand in hand with equally significant preventive measures. The Toronto Police Services Board has made this point repeatedly. The Board has invested considerable human and financial resources into preventive efforts.

And now, support for the importance of prevention comes from another source.

Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, speaks eloquently about the need for a public health approach to community safety in his annual report, “Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2008.”

Dr. Butler-Jones says that the role of public health is “to work with individuals and communities to identify and address the factors affecting overall physical, mental, spiritual and emotional well-being.” According to him, the police have a very important role to play in promoting and ensuring public health, especially of the youth. He comments:

In addition to their public safety responsibilities, the police community has an important role to play in the public’s health, particularly with respect to youth. The police community is often our closest link to society’s most vulnerable and unhealthy population, including at-risk and street youth. When we look at some of the determinants of crime – poverty, family violence, inadequate schooling, social exclusion, inappropriate peer association, poor academic achievement, low self-esteem – what we are also looking at is the determinants of poor health. The notion of crime prevention through social development has been fully embraced by the police community and is an opportunity to focus on up-stream efforts such as youth mentorship and asset development, in an effort to prevent future potential crime.

According to Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, developmental assets “represent the relationships, opportunities and personal qualities that young people need to avoid risks and to thrive.” He asserts that “the more assets young people have, the less likely they are to engage in a wide range of high-risk behaviours (including drug and alcohol use) and the more likely they are to thrive. Assets have power for all young people, regardless of their gender, economic status, family situation or ethnicity.”

In terms of benefits from asset development among young people from an early age, Dr. Butler-Jones cites research showing that “$1 spent in the early years saves between $3 and $9 in future spending on the health and criminal justice systems, as well as social assistance.”

Dr. Butler-Jones cites several examples of programs initiated by Canada’s police community to do its share to promote asset development among youth. The benefits, as the Chief Public Health Officer points out, are enormous.

March 18, 2009

14 MONTHS. 90+ BLOGS.

Fourteen months ago, I launched this blog. It started with an entry on the start of the collective bargaining process with the Toronto Police Association.

I had no idea where this blogging adventure would take me.

Fourteen months later and I continue to be amazed by the feedback I get from regular readers and people who have recently come across it. I have heard from TPS members, members of other police services, former students from my time at York University and various other residents of this great city.

Overwhelmingly, the feedback has been positive, except for those – and you know who you are – who were worried about what I might write.

Here are a few facts that you might not know:

• I believe this is the first blog to be used by an employer during a collective bargaining process. Typically, employers stick to traditional method of communications. We opted for something less traditional and, dare I say, more effective.

• While this blog has been used to communicate collective bargaining issues and notable items regarding the TPS, its greatest use has been to raise awareness of the need for a handgun ban. The largest number of blog entries, unfortunately, relate to violence and the federal government’s continued refusal to bring forth a handgun ban.

• We were featured twice as the “Best of the Blogs” in the Toronto Sun.

With that in mind, I present to you my 5 favourite blogs so far…..

5. Random Acts of Kindness - A very inspiring story about one police officer's effort to build positive relations by his attention to the needs of one family in inner-city Toronto.

4. Diversity at the Toronto Police Service and Canada’s Best Diversity Employers. These two blogs highlight something that is so important to me and the entire TPSB – a diverse police service that reflects the diversity of the residents that it serves.

3. Welcoming Gen Y – Who knew that this next generation would provide so many challenges and opportunities for today’s employers?

2. Remembrance and RCMP Constable Douglas Scott – These blogs, while difficult to write, reminded me and (hopefully) the blog readers about the importance of remembering those men and women, here in Toronto, across Canada and around the world who serve.

1. Arbitration Order – This blog marked the end of a very long and very tiresome set of negotiations. I am thrilled to have it behind us so we can now focus all of our resources on providing the best policing services to the residents of Toronto.

You may wonder why none of the handgun ban blogs made it to the Top 5. It is because there are far too many to choose from. You can read all of them here. I will continue to use this blog to try and focus the attention of the federal government on this critical issue. In the meantime, one of the best things you can do is to go to the Mayor’s website and sign the petition.

Finally I’d like to give a shout out to everyone who suggested ideas, drew my attention to interesting stories, gently shot down my more off the wall pieces and gave me honest feedback. Thank you all!

Have a great New Year and I look forward to sharing more blogs with you in 2009.

Best,
Alok

ARBITRATION ORDER

STATEMENT FROM ALOK MUKHERJEE, CHAIR
TORONTO POLICE SERVICES BOARD


This morning, the Interest Board of Arbitration issued an order concerning the renewal of the collective agreement for Toronto Police Service members represented by the Toronto Police Association (TPA). The order brings to a close a process that began some 13 months ago.

The Toronto Police Services Board would like to thank Arbitrator William Kaplan and the other members of the Interest Board of Arbitration for their hard work and efforts in resolving this matter.

The Arbitrator’s order settles the TPA collective agreements for 2008, 2009 and 2010 as follows:

o A cost increase of 9.9% over a three-year period (which due to staging is a 10.309% wage increase), from 2008-2010. By the end of 2010, a first class constable will earn $81,249.00 which will be $238 more than a first class constable from Peel Regional Police;
Establishment of a non-cumulative annual heath care spending account for retirees over the age of 65 and until they reach age 75, in the amount of $2500 for 2009, increasing to $3000 in 2010; and,
Minor improvements in a few other areas, such as vision care.

The order does not award Family Day as an additional benefit. However, for 2008 only, it provides one additional lieu day to full time members (or a part thereof for part-time members).

I am pleased that nothing in the order impedes the Chief of Police’s ability to effectively and efficiently manage the delivery of policing services.
The TPSB recognizes that this award comes at a time when the City of Toronto and the wider economy face challenges and uncertainty. The Toronto Police Services Board is satisfied that the Arbitrators’ award strikes a balance between improvements to the Collective Agreement and the current financial reality. The wage increase is consistent with the Board’s proposal of a 3% increase per year made to the Association in February of this year.

Happy Holidays

As we come to the end of the year, I would like to take this opportunity to look back on 2008 and to look forward to the year ahead of us.

The Board is extremely proud of the members of the Toronto Police Service who, on a daily basis, work for and with our community to make Toronto a safer and healthier place to live. We see evidence of partnerships between police and the community all around us, from programs engaging our young people like the Youth in Policing Initiative (YIPI) to targeted enforcement and mobilization activities like the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS).

We know, too, that our city is facing challenges, such as increasing concerns about gun violence. Over the past year, the Board has repeatedly highlighted the importance of a comprehensive strategy to combat this violence and has advocated for a ban on handguns. I know that we are doing our very best to get on top of this challenge.

I am proud of our commitment to community safety and I am confident that we will continue to work diligently, together, in the year to come so that our city remains safe and maintains a quality of life that is the envy of the world.

On behalf of the Toronto Police Services Board, I want to wish you and your families all the best for the holiday season.

May you have a happy, healthy and safe New Year.


Alok Mukherjee
Chair

WITHOUT YOU, THERE WOULD BE NO WAY

WOW.

Did you read this in the Toronto Sun today?

Once again, the members of the Toronto Police Service have raised an amazing amount of money for the United Way of Greater Toronto. This year, the Service raised $600,000, exceeding its goal.

I was delighted to join Deputy Chief Kim Derry, Staff Superintendent Tony Corrie, Campaign Chair, TPA President Dave Wilson, Senior Officers’ Organization president Chuck Lawrence and Frances Lankin, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Toronto, at the cheque presentation. Ms Lankin is also my colleague on the Mayor's Advisory Panel on Making a Safe City Safer, chaired by former Ontario Chief Justice, Roy McMurtry.

I want to congratulate the members of the Service on an incredible achievement.

As Scottish writer Henry Drummond once said “Happiness... consists in giving, and in serving others.”

Here are my remarks from yesterday’s cheque presentation.

Honoured guests, members of the Toronto Police Service and members of the community:
On behalf of the Toronto Police Services Board, it is my pleasure to welcome all of you here to the 2008 United Way Cheque Presentation.

The Service’s involvement in the United Way Campaign has been extremely rewarding, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to date.

Money donated to the United Way draws on the combined strength of campaigns and donors from across the community to make a difference in the lives of so many people who need it most.

In fact, our members use organizations funded by the United Way every day while performing their duties. These are great partnerships for all of us.

When we give to the United Way, not only do we assist those in our community, but we could also be helping those with whom we work and those with whom we share our lives.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Staff Superintendent Tony Corrie, this year’s campaign Chair and all of the organizers of the Toronto Police Service United Way Campaign for their tireless work and invaluable contributions in preparing this year’s campaign and ensuring that it was run smoothly and successfully. I am happy to report that we surpassed our goal, an amazing achievement!

I thank, too, all of those who participated in the campaign. You give the campaign strength and you give it energy.

And lastly, I would like to thank all of you who opened your hearts -- and your wallets – and made a donation to this year’s campaign. It is through your generosity that the United Way is able to offer its services, year after year, to those who need them.

At this time of year, it is especially gratifying to see the dedication of our members to the spirit of giving. Our ever-important partnerships with the community are something we very much treasure.

And I am proud to say that I know that our members – both uniform and civilian – carry on that spirit all year round.

Once again, on behalf of the Toronto Police Services Board, thank you and happy holidays to all.

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

The quality of the relationship between the Toronto Police Service and the community is of the utmost importance.

On a daily basis, Service members work to foster and strengthen this ever-important relationship. The Toronto Police Services Board is extremely proud of their contribution in this critical area.

I have blogged a couple of times on this issue.

Therefore, I was delighted this morning to read in The Toronto Star’s "Random Act of Kindness" section, a very inspiring story about one police officer's effort to build positive relations by his attention to the needs of one family in inner city Toronto.

You can read it here.