Professor D
oug Thomson, D.Phil, is a senior Professor at Humber College in the Criminal Justice program. He received his doctorate from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa in homicide research. He has lectured in South Africa, Zimbabwe, England and Canada in the fields of sociology, criminology and research methodologies. Doug has won awards for both his lecturing and research at Humber. His current research includes work on the Toronto Police, as well as consulting on urban safety and security. He has been part of the NCOP research since 2016, becoming the Principle Investigator in 2019.
Presentation
Community Policing in Toronto: An Examination of Internal Obstacles
Dr Doug Thomson1, Dr Emma Smith1
1Humber College, Toronto , Canada
As part of an ongoing research study between the Toronto Police Service and Humber College (Canada), this presentation will review external findings on the current inefficiencies and conflicting directives within the Neighbourhood Community Officer Program (NCOP).
This program has historically placed a strong emphasis on enhancing community wellbeing rather than solely concentrating on crime control strategies. The NCOP has shown previous notable success, particularly in high-risk areas, by deploying officers to work directly with community members in securing resources, program referrals and mitigating crimes.
Results of the NCOP have shown an increase in public trust towards policing, a reduction in crime rates and stronger partnerships with community agencies. However, new internal challenges are growing:
1) The rapid expansion of the NCOP into larger geographic areas.
2) The reduction of the Community Response Unit, who fulfilled regular patrol duties, across the Service.
3) Challenges with internal quantitative measures of success.
Through surveys and interviews with NCOP officers and leadership, these new issues are investigated. The impact of program changes on frontline officers are explored, as well as the success of phone technology in gathering performance metrics. Understanding the strengths and challenges of these issues will help inform internal plans of action to support the continued success of the Neighbourhood Community Officer Program.