{"id":931412,"date":"2026-10-13T11:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T11:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/931412\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T11:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T11:36:11","slug":"how-are-chow-and-bradford-planning-to-keep-toronto-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/931412\/","title":{"rendered":"How are Chow and Bradford planning to keep Toronto safe?"},"content":{"rendered":"

While shootings and violent crimes are trending downwards<\/a> in Toronto, statistics don\u2019t necessarily assuage public anxieties surrounding safety. <\/p>\n

A Canada Pulse Insights poll for CityNews released on Tuesday found that more than one-third of Torontonians (35 per cent) don\u2019t feel safe walking around their own neighbourhood after dark.<\/p>\n

City residents who were surveyed rank crime, policing, and public safety as the second most important issue facing the city, after affordability and the cost of living.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not difficult to see why.<\/p>\n

Viral videos document break-ins<\/a>, car thefts, jewellery store smash-and-grabs<\/a>, and shootings and arsons targetting vehicles<\/a>, homes, businesses, and places of worship<\/a>. Police say teens are frequently recruited by organized crime <\/a>to commit these crimes. <\/p>\n

High-profile incidents like the Salsa on St. Clair Festival shooting<\/a> leave residents rattled. <\/p>\n

Commuters also witness open drug use on the TTC<\/a> and read headlines about random acts of violence<\/a> on the transit system. <\/p>\n

CEO of Canada Pulse Insights, John Wright, says touting improved crime statistics isn\u2019t enough to make people feel safe. With random attacks on transit and home invasions making headlines, citizens are rightfully on edge. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can\u2019t have a city where you are having a predictable moment, where you can walk onto a subway train and think everything is going to be OK \u2026 if you\u2019re anxious about that, this is what makes a city a little more unhinged,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that things happen, it\u2019s that you presuppose they might.\u201d<\/p>\n

Add it all up, and it\u2019s clear that public safety is a key election issue and one that candidates Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford have both vowed to prioritize.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer look at their respective plans and promises:<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s working\u2019: Olivia Chow<\/p>\n

Chow points to statistical improvements on crime in Toronto as evidence that she\u2019s on the right track, while acknowledging there\u2019s still room for improvement. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve held the hands of the grieving mothers who have lost their sons to gun violence and promised them I would do everything I can to stop it,\u201d Chow said during the first head-to-head debate with Bradford on October 6. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor far too long Toronto ignored the root cause of crime,\u201d she added. \u201cYoung people had nowhere to go and when you call 911, you waited. So I made a different choice. We hired hundreds of police officers, firefighters, paramedics. We put mental health crisis workers on the streets across the city, on TTC. And we gave young people jobs and after school programs so they have somewhere to go. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s working,\u201d she stressed. \u201cGun crimes are down, 911 rate times are down, but those grieving mothers need more from us and they expect more. So here\u2019s my promise to them, we will keep our police hiring on track, we will invest $28 million in programs, jobs, and mentorship programs for young people. Safety is a job that never finishes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deeper dive: <\/p>\n

5 year hiring plan: Back in August 2025, Chow\u00a0unveiled a five-year hiring plan<\/a> that will see the Toronto Police Service grow by 720 new officers in the first two years. She\u2019s also committed to hiring over 150 firefighters, 361 paramedics and staff and 90 new 911 call-takers. <\/p>\n

Expanding the mental health crisis response: Chow says she established and expanded the Toronto Community Crisis Service and hired over 100 more crisis workers.<\/a><\/p>\n

Investing in youth programs: Chow says she\u2019ll invest $28 million over four years toward youth violence prevention and safety programs. She also announced she was expanding Toronto\u2019s school food program.<\/a><\/p>\n

Safer public transit: Chow\u2019s office has embedded mental health crisis workers and Police Neighbourhood Community Officers on the subway<\/a> and has hired 420 more frontline safety workers, including TTC staff, social services teams, Provincial Offence Officers and security guards. <\/p>\n

\u2018Public safety is my number one priority\u2019: Brad Bradford<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now certainly folks in this city feel a lot less safe than they used to,\u201d Bradford said at the Oct. 6 debate. \u201cSeniors don\u2019t want to take transit, families don\u2019t feel safe in the park, people of faith don\u2019t feel safe going to their place of worship and for good reason because of what\u2019s happened here in the city over the past three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of room for improvement on this file and public safety is my number one priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deeper dive: <\/p>\n

Police hiring: Bradford has promised to eclipse Chow\u2019s police hiring targets if he\u2019s elected, vowing to hire 1,000 new police officers<\/a> over four years.<\/p>\n

TTC and public infrastructure safety: Bradford says if he\u2019s elected he\u2019ll put police officers inside every TTC station.<\/a> He\u2019s also vowed to establish a police substation at Union Station, and set up a police outpost at Sankofa Square. On top of that, he\u2019s calling for costly platform-edge doors along the transit system, calling the steel barriers being erected by the Chow administration a \u201cwaste of money.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Governance and Oversight: Bradford says if he\u2019s elected he will sit on the Toronto Police Services Board, something he criticized Chow for declining to do. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty typical for the mayor to do that, John Tory sat on the board, Mel Lastman, even the last time we had an NDP mayor, David Miller, he sat on the police board but Mayor Chow chose not to,\u201d Bradford said while debating Chow. \u201cI\u2019m not surprised when I meet people on the streets \u2026 when they tell me that they feel that Mayor Chow doesn\u2019t take their safety seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Youth Initiatives and engagment: Bradford has promised that if elected he will launch the Toronto Youth Employment Challenge to ultimately create 15,000 private sector youth jobs<\/a> by the end of his first term.<\/p>\n

\t\tKeep it Factual<\/p>\n

Add CityNews Toronto as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.<\/p>\n

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