The Toronto Port Authority wants hired guns to police the island airport.
The TPA’s proposal, which is almost unheard of in Ontario, includes staffing the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport with nine armed special constables between 6 a.m. and midnight seven days a week.
The TPA says it would use the constables to assist investigations, respond to alarm calls and enhance current security services.
But perhaps more importantly, the port authority needs armed officers so that it can operate a preclearance area for U.S. customs, a requirement under federal aviation regulations.
Porter Airlines has been negotiating to bring U.S. customs to the island airport since last year.
“You have to have an armed officer at the screening points because U.S. customs workers aren’t allowed to carry weapons in Canada,” said Angus Armstrong, harbour master and chief of security for the port authority.
“We’re looking at the possibility of having Toronto police or reviving the port police,” said Armstrong. The port police were armed special constables who worked for the Harbour Commission in the 1980s, he said.
Cost is definitely a factor for the port authority, which has to foot the bill either way.
Armstrong said his organization is looking at all the options, but there “may be [a] cost saving for us to go with our own special constables.” One figure being mentioned is that using Toronto police would cost the TPA $2.8 million.
In Ontario, special constables usually receive some police training and are given the status of peace officers. The constables are employed by the organizations that hire them, which in Toronto include Toronto Community Housing, the University of Toronto and, until recently, the TTC.
Special constables aren’t allowed to carry guns with one exception — the Niagara Parks Police Service, which has jurisdiction over all Niagara Parks Commission land as well as the 56 kilometres of parkway that runs through it.
That decision was made by the Niagara Police Services Board, said Douglas Kane, police chief of the Niagara Parks Police Service. Kane says the board has the power under Section 53 of the Police Services Act to determine which use-of-force options special constables can deploy.
The service dates back more than 125 years and its members have always carried guns, he said. Its special constables are also the only ones in the province who receive the same training as police officers.
The proposal by the port authority narrowly squeaked through last week’s police board meeting after Councillor Michael Thompson deferred a report by Chief Bill Blair that said the police board should turn it down.
Thompson wants to delay a decision until he gets more information from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
“I’d like to understand from [the] ministry if they’d support the plan,” said Thompson, who is the board’s vice-chair. “I’m not familiar if it’s done anywhere else.”
According to Blair’s report to the board, the chief feels “a dedicated armed police presence was required at the airport.” But he said after Wednesday’s meeting that he was not going to say yes to special constables carrying guns.
“There is no precedent in Ontario for special constables to carry guns and I’m not recommending it to the board that they should do that,” said Blair.
The island airport has unarmed security guards. Armstrong says there is a police presence there as well but he isn’t at liberty to say where and when. He emphasized that the island airport is safe.
“We can’t state a lot about security at the airport,” said Armstrong. “We’re very sensitive to that.”
At Pearson, passengers going to the U.S. clear that country’s customs in both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 to accommodate different airlines. The areas are secured by armed officers from Peel Regional Police, who have a division at the airport and who are on-site 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to a GTAA spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police has asked the ministry to review the special constable programs.
“Police services boards authorize special constables, but then have very little control over them,” said the association’s spokesperson Joe Couto.
There is no oversight by the Special Investigations Unit or the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.
Another issue, he said, is how special constables look in terms of uniforms and cars. There is “some public confusion over what is a special constable and what is a police officer, who have different roles and responsibilities,” he said.
“Public confidence needs to be addressed.”
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Patty Winsa
The TPA’s proposal, which is almost unheard of in Ontario, includes staffing the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport with nine armed special constables between 6 a.m. and midnight seven days a week.
The TPA says it would use the constables to assist investigations, respond to alarm calls and enhance current security services.
But perhaps more importantly, the port authority needs armed officers so that it can operate a preclearance area for U.S. customs, a requirement under federal aviation regulations.
Porter Airlines has been negotiating to bring U.S. customs to the island airport since last year.
“You have to have an armed officer at the screening points because U.S. customs workers aren’t allowed to carry weapons in Canada,” said Angus Armstrong, harbour master and chief of security for the port authority.
“We’re looking at the possibility of having Toronto police or reviving the port police,” said Armstrong. The port police were armed special constables who worked for the Harbour Commission in the 1980s, he said.
Cost is definitely a factor for the port authority, which has to foot the bill either way.
Armstrong said his organization is looking at all the options, but there “may be [a] cost saving for us to go with our own special constables.” One figure being mentioned is that using Toronto police would cost the TPA $2.8 million.
In Ontario, special constables usually receive some police training and are given the status of peace officers. The constables are employed by the organizations that hire them, which in Toronto include Toronto Community Housing, the University of Toronto and, until recently, the TTC.
Special constables aren’t allowed to carry guns with one exception — the Niagara Parks Police Service, which has jurisdiction over all Niagara Parks Commission land as well as the 56 kilometres of parkway that runs through it.
That decision was made by the Niagara Police Services Board, said Douglas Kane, police chief of the Niagara Parks Police Service. Kane says the board has the power under Section 53 of the Police Services Act to determine which use-of-force options special constables can deploy.
The service dates back more than 125 years and its members have always carried guns, he said. Its special constables are also the only ones in the province who receive the same training as police officers.
The proposal by the port authority narrowly squeaked through last week’s police board meeting after Councillor Michael Thompson deferred a report by Chief Bill Blair that said the police board should turn it down.
Thompson wants to delay a decision until he gets more information from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
“I’d like to understand from [the] ministry if they’d support the plan,” said Thompson, who is the board’s vice-chair. “I’m not familiar if it’s done anywhere else.”
According to Blair’s report to the board, the chief feels “a dedicated armed police presence was required at the airport.” But he said after Wednesday’s meeting that he was not going to say yes to special constables carrying guns.
“There is no precedent in Ontario for special constables to carry guns and I’m not recommending it to the board that they should do that,” said Blair.
The island airport has unarmed security guards. Armstrong says there is a police presence there as well but he isn’t at liberty to say where and when. He emphasized that the island airport is safe.
“We can’t state a lot about security at the airport,” said Armstrong. “We’re very sensitive to that.”
At Pearson, passengers going to the U.S. clear that country’s customs in both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 to accommodate different airlines. The areas are secured by armed officers from Peel Regional Police, who have a division at the airport and who are on-site 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to a GTAA spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police has asked the ministry to review the special constable programs.
“Police services boards authorize special constables, but then have very little control over them,” said the association’s spokesperson Joe Couto.
There is no oversight by the Special Investigations Unit or the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.
Another issue, he said, is how special constables look in terms of uniforms and cars. There is “some public confusion over what is a special constable and what is a police officer, who have different roles and responsibilities,” he said.
“Public confidence needs to be addressed.”
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Patty Winsa
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