Does London need 11 new special constables at a cost of $2M?

London could soon have a second set of special constables patrolling public areas, with one group controlled by London police and the second by city hall. City council’s community and protective services committee voted 4-2 Monday to endorse a pitch by Mayor Josh Morgan, based on an unreleased $65,000 consultants report, to explore establishing a [...]

London could soon have a second set of special constables patrolling public areas, with one group controlled by London police and the second by city hall. City council’s community and protective services committee voted 4-2 Monday to endorse a pitch by Mayor Josh Morgan, based on an unreleased $65,000 consultants report, to explore establishing a special constable pilot program. “There’s merit here to have the conversation as a municipality, but we’ve got to do that with an actual staff analysis and recommendation in hand,” Morgan said.

“We have the ability to provide better protection to (public spaces), we have the ability to put people in those facilities who can enforce trespass.” Councillors Anna Hopkins and Sam Trosow voted against exploring the pilot, while Morgan and councillors Corrine Rahman, Jerry Pribil and David Ferreira voted in favour. City council will vote on the committee recommendation at a future meeting.

Different from the London police special constables, the new contingent would cover enforcement in areas such as community centres, parks and other public areas at a cost of approximately $2 million a year for 11 constables. In Ontario, there are more than 3,000 special constables, often referred to as specials, who are granted some or all of the authorities of a police officer depending on how their roles are defined by their employer, according to the Special Constable Association, an organization created to share knowledge about the profession and lobby governments.

Western University and Fanshawe College use special constables on their campuses, and recently London policeramp ed up their use for low-risk duties such as crime scene and court security, directing traffic and logging evidence. Special constables are not armed with firearms or tasers. They typically wear a Kevlar vest and carry batons, handcuffs and pepper spray.

City staff had greenlit the unreleased report from the Community Safety Knowledge Alliance without council input under their delegated authority powers, in order to evaluate if the constables would provide a more co-ordinated and effective approach than the current mix of private security, bylaw officers and homeless response bylaw officers at an annual cost of $2.9 million. Ferreira said he understands the gap in enforcement, where sometimes security and bylaw must wait for police intervention, but that he’s interested if there could be savings and if money could be steered away from the police budget.

“We did have a historic police budget, so I am interested to see if we can use some of that money to pay for that,” he said. “I would like to see where we can save the money, how we can get the money, and how we can do it in a way that is what the public would be looking for.” City council approved a four-year $672-million police budget in 2024 that included hiring 189 officers and civilian staff.

Deputy mayor Shawn Lewis said the deployment of special constables could be adjusted, including following other cities in having them monitor transit or public housing. Others remained unconvinced, with Hopkins saying she had “more questions than anything.” Hadleigh McAlister, who isn’t a member of the committee, said residents are already confused by different bylaw officers, police officers and special constables.

He suggested existing bylaw officers could be empowered as special constables rather than creating another body. On the $2 million price tag, both Trosow and committee guest Skylar Franke referenced several letters of opposition the committee received, saying such money could be better spent on preventing the same pressures on policing the new special constables would be tackling. “I believe our limited resources are better spent preventing these issues before they occur, which generally means investing in housing, mental health, youth programs, neighbourhood improvements and community outreach,” Franke said.

“I believe that we already have various bodies that can respond.” City staff said the full consultant’s report would be brought to the next city council meeting on July 21, where full council will weigh in on the pitch. If approved, the staff analysis is expected early next year.