The Ontario government said Tuesday it is introducing a number of new measures to boost lagging police recruitment numbers, including eliminating a post-secondary education requirement to be hired as an officer and covering the costs of mandatory training.
“We need more police officers on our streets, more boots on the ground,” Premier Doug Ford said at a news conference at the Ontario Police College. He was joined by Solicitor General Michael Kerzner and Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw.
Ford said he has heard from the chiefs of various police services, who said they are seeing increases in major crimes like auto thefts, break and enters and random acts of violence, but are struggling to attract new recruits.
