TTC transit enforcement officers will soon be able to have the power to make arrests again.  An agreement between the Transit Commission and the Toronto Police Services Board will give the officers back their special constable status, which was taken away in 2011.  It just needs to be approved by the provincial government.  TTC CEO Andy Byford says, “for riders security is one of their top priorities and rightly so, so we want to keep our customers safe, hassle free, and enjoy their trip on the TTC.  So for me, this is another piece in that jigsaw of getting the basics right on the transit network.”

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair says it was important to get the agreement right for both sides.  “I’ve got about 80 police officers as part of our transit patrol unit.  So we have police officers to do police work in the transit system and we have transit enforcement officers to do their bylaw enforcement work and work in partnership with us, and I think that can ensure the public that the special constable status now afforded to transit enforcement officers will be very appropriately used.”

When the transit cops were stripped of their ability to make arrests, there were 100 of them.  There are now 40 officers who will receive the special constable status.