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Toronto, The Toronto Police Services Board is asking Chief Bill Blair to undertake a “thorough review” of the paid duty program in light of new data that suggests that a number of officers are earning more than 50 per cent of their pay through overtime and outside work.
Toronto police published their list of employees earning more than $100,000 on Monday morning ahead of the release of the provincial ‘Sunshine List’ and this year the data includes paid-duty earnings for the first time, resulting in the number of employees with six-figure incomes going up by 544 to 4,125.
In a news release issued Monday morning, the Toronto Police Service said it wants Blair to review the issue of compensation in general as well as the paid duty program, which allows officers to complete off-duty assignments ranging from security to traffic control for the city and private organizations.
“The list serves as a reminder to all concerned that cost of policing, 89% of which is in labour costs, requires action on the part of everyone with a stake in policing,” the release stated. “On its part, the Toronto Police Services Board is taking a number of steps to deal with this important issue, including a comprehensive organizational review to implement a model of delivering services that is cost effective and sustainable. At the same time, the board looks to other players in policing to do their share, since cost of policing is an issue that require a broad and collaborative approach.”
Union takes issue with inclusion of paid duty work
In 2014, $27.1 million was earned by Toronto Police Service employees through paid duty work, which works out to an average of $8,909 per member working as paid duty officer.
Speaking with CP24 on Monday afternoon, Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack said it is “ridiculous” to include money earned from paid duty work in salary data since officers do it on their own time and more than 80 per cent of it is paid out by the private industry, not by taxpayers.
“We are a little suspect about why this is happening now in the middle of bargaining,” he said, referring to the ongoing contract negotiations between his union and the city. “This should not be captured. These are dollars that officers are earning off-duty and on their own time.”
In addition to taking issue with the inclusion of paid duty work in calculating police compensation, McCormack also took issue with the $100,000 threshold for the ‘Sunshine List,’ which was set in 1996.
“Back then I could buy a house in Toronto for under $200,000. If you would have indexed that money today it would be $142,743,” he said.
In the release, the TPS board said they have asked Blair to report back at a meeting in May with an action plan.
The board also said that they expect Blair’s report to include an “objective explanation” for the “phenomenon” of some officers taking home the majority of their pay through paid duty work and overtime. The exact total of officers that fall under that category is not immediately clear.
The starting salary for a constable is about $90,621. All other job classifications make in excess of $100,000.
