Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Context

In cities across North America there is an increased awareness examining the actions and role of police in the community. This idea is a direct result of demonstrations that first originated in the US in response to the killing of George Floyd earlier this year and have since spread internationally.

In Toronto, like in many other cities, these demonstrations have recently led to a movement and a call to ‘defund the police’ from a wide variety of stakeholders which include elected officials, community organizations, and other non-state actors.

Simply put, the idea to ‘defund the police’ means to reduce the budget of the police department and transfer those funds to other municipal departments, which may have better expertise to handle non-violent situations, or to other agencies that are more trusted by residents to lead community development projects.

At the last City of Toronto Council Meeting held on Monday June 29, City Councillors debated this idea and voted ‘no’ to reduce the budget of the Toronto Police Service (TPS) by 10% in 2021.

For some additional context into this issue please read the following news article that covers the City of Toronto Council decision.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-city-council-defund-police-1.5630983 (Links to an external site.)



Question

Despite the decision by Toronto City Council to not reduce the TPS budget next year, it seems likely that this idea will be adopted in some way as the movement to reform police departments to address racial injustice and social inequity continues to progress and gain momentum.

If so, please answer the following question…

What are the most effective method(s) that will help stakeholders achieve their goal to reform and/or reduce the future budgets of the Toronto Police Service?

Below are some supplementary questions that you should try to answer and incorporate into your response.

Which stakeholders or levels of government are the most relevant in this particular issue?
What is the role of power in civic engagement and how can stakeholders obtain it and wield it in order to reach their goal of police reform?


Instructions

Your response should be no more than 1500 words, and please reference your sources as required. (i.e., the word limit does not include your references).

Your response and arguments should be supported using both the readings and the material/discussions discussed during our lectures, and any other relevant external references.



Primary Resources and Background Information

Toronto Police Services Budget
http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/budget/docs/tps-2020-budget-request-infographic.pdf (Links to an external site.)

Toronto City Council Meeting, 29 June 2020, City Council Consideration Item CC 22.2
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.CC22.2 (Links to an external site.)

Above is the instruction for our take-home midterm, and I will upload all the lecture reading meterials. Please help me with the midterm, thank you very much!