A recent spate of violent incidents on the TTC has prompted police to announce an increased officer presence in and around transit stations today.
Chief Myron Demkiw explained how they plan to provide the transit system with increased surveillance:
In addition to the patrols that already exist, starting today, Toronto Police will increase its daily presence on the transit system, primarily through "call backs," which are shifts filled by off-duty officers who return to work overtime. We are doing it this way so that officers who are on duty can remain available for priority calls. This deployment will allow us to respond to these types of situations without compromising the day-to-day work efforts that must be done to respond to emergency calls. Our plan is to have more than 80 police officers deployed at transit stations every day. This deployment will focus on reducing victimization, preventing crime and improving public safety. Our officers will be in and out and around the city's transit system.
The TTC CEO also announced the hiring of additional security officers and supervisors and the expansion and improvement of the security camera system at stations and inside vehicles.
The announcement comes at the end of a week filled with violence on the TTC, including, among others, a woman who was stabbed by a stranger on a streetcar and left with life-changing injuries, two transit workers who were chased through a subway station by a suspect armed with a syringe, and a 16-year-old who was seriously injured after being stabbed on a bus.