It comprises three rapid response teams that can be immediately deployed into
areas where gun violence is occurring as well as additional TAVIS police
officer presence in high-crime neighborhood during the summer months.
Phase One: additional Toronto Police Officers are assigned to the area deemed to
be experiencing an increase in violent activity
Phase three: the Toronto police service presence is again normalized as a support
system to a community that has been empowered to reduce violent activity.
TAVIS has been implemented in areas such as Keele and Eglinton area of 12
Division and the Jane-Finch Area of 31 Division as well as other high-crime
neighborhood.
According to the Toronto Police these neighborhood are selected because they
were experiencing a disproportionate level of criminal activity for their size.
TAVIS is led by the Toronto Police Service and involves other organizations like
Toronto Community House and City of Toronto Divisions such as Parks, Forestry
and Recreation, Toronto Public Health, Social Development, Finance and
Administration and Toronto Office of Partnership.
They involve these organizations as well as people living and working in these
neighborhood to encourage community efforts to lower crime rates within
communities affected by higher than average violent crime rates
Is TAVIS effective?
In theory TAVIS seems like a decent strategy. However the police have never been
able to produce any verifiable data on what TAVIS has accomplished.
It has been criticized for increasing tension between the police and residents in
areas where TAVIS has been implemented.
Members of these communities have voiced that they feel targeted and harassed
by TAVIS presence.
This criticism has been noted and as of January 2016 there has been an almost
50% decrease in the Ontario budget for TAVIS, while the police budget as a
whole increased.
TAVIS now has an annual budget of $2.6 million rather than $5 million.
It is unclear what will become of TAVIS, that is whether the Toronto Police will
continue to fund the strategy out of its own $47.6 million annual budget, that saw
a $4.7 million dollar increase this year.
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