Organizers of the annual Jesus in the City event faced an unexpected $14,000 bill for paid-duty officers but the bill was cut and fundraising yielded the rest.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ort_5000_policing_cost_as_deadline_looms.html
The Jesus in the City parade organizers can count their blessings — and their dollars — after some hectic last-minute fundraising allowed them to pay their police bill on Thursday, just two days before the event.
It was the final obstacle to overcome after the parade, which typically draws 10,000 people, was cancelled mid-August and then re-scheduled only last week.
The organizers, police and city staff have since been scrambling to do in seven days what normally takes two months: get the street occupancy permits in place, draw up a traffic management plan and find enough police officers to work the event.
Parade organizers put out a desperate call on Wednesday that they needed to raise $14,000 by Thursday morning to hire paid-duty police officers for the weekend.
They were only able to get $9,000, but Toronto police lowered the bill to around $8,000 after the organizers found more barricades, which reduces the need for police officers along the route.
“We’re still looking for more barricades. It’s about $1,000 to rent 50 of them,” said Ayanna Solomon, president of Festival of Praise International, which puts on the parade. “So the barricades are expensive, but a lot less than the police officers are.”
The parade, which has run annually since 1999, has never had to pay for policing costs before — but that’s because the permit is supposed to be in place months before the event. The advance notice gives the police time to schedule on-duty officers without cutting back service elsewhere.
In mid-August, parade organizers were told by the city they would not be getting a permit in their usual location because of the construction around Queen’s Park.
Staff Sgt. Mike Perrault, who works in the police special events department, said they asked the organizers to either move the parade to a different part of the city or bump the date back.
“In a city of 641 square kilometers, we offered virtually every possible option that was available, but none were suitable to their needs, apparently,” Perrault said.
Solomon said there was never any question on their end that the parade had to keep its same date and be in the downtown core.
“We did not want to go to Downsview Park, because having a parade there makes no sense,” she said. “They said maybe along Lake Shore, but the nature of our parade is Jesus in the City, not on the Lake Shore.”
After starting a media campaign and enlisting the help of Mayor Rob Ford, the organizers were able to get the new downtown route for Saturday — but they were told the last-minute permit could come with a hefty police bill.
Perrault said there are many other events happening this weekend, along with a subway shutdown that will require shuttle buses to run through the parade route.
The police bill was initially estimated to be as much as $23,000, but Perrault’s office was able to drop the fee by shifting police schedules to have more on-duty officers, and as the parade organizers found more barricades.
“We’ve had officers working every night to try and get this to happen and make it work,” said Perrault. “I don’t think we’ve had sufficient time to prepare this at its best, but we’re going to give it every effort to make it come together.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ort_5000_policing_cost_as_deadline_looms.html
The Jesus in the City parade organizers can count their blessings — and their dollars — after some hectic last-minute fundraising allowed them to pay their police bill on Thursday, just two days before the event.
It was the final obstacle to overcome after the parade, which typically draws 10,000 people, was cancelled mid-August and then re-scheduled only last week.
The organizers, police and city staff have since been scrambling to do in seven days what normally takes two months: get the street occupancy permits in place, draw up a traffic management plan and find enough police officers to work the event.
Parade organizers put out a desperate call on Wednesday that they needed to raise $14,000 by Thursday morning to hire paid-duty police officers for the weekend.
They were only able to get $9,000, but Toronto police lowered the bill to around $8,000 after the organizers found more barricades, which reduces the need for police officers along the route.
“We’re still looking for more barricades. It’s about $1,000 to rent 50 of them,” said Ayanna Solomon, president of Festival of Praise International, which puts on the parade. “So the barricades are expensive, but a lot less than the police officers are.”
The parade, which has run annually since 1999, has never had to pay for policing costs before — but that’s because the permit is supposed to be in place months before the event. The advance notice gives the police time to schedule on-duty officers without cutting back service elsewhere.
In mid-August, parade organizers were told by the city they would not be getting a permit in their usual location because of the construction around Queen’s Park.
Staff Sgt. Mike Perrault, who works in the police special events department, said they asked the organizers to either move the parade to a different part of the city or bump the date back.
“In a city of 641 square kilometers, we offered virtually every possible option that was available, but none were suitable to their needs, apparently,” Perrault said.
Solomon said there was never any question on their end that the parade had to keep its same date and be in the downtown core.
“We did not want to go to Downsview Park, because having a parade there makes no sense,” she said. “They said maybe along Lake Shore, but the nature of our parade is Jesus in the City, not on the Lake Shore.”
After starting a media campaign and enlisting the help of Mayor Rob Ford, the organizers were able to get the new downtown route for Saturday — but they were told the last-minute permit could come with a hefty police bill.
Perrault said there are many other events happening this weekend, along with a subway shutdown that will require shuttle buses to run through the parade route.
The police bill was initially estimated to be as much as $23,000, but Perrault’s office was able to drop the fee by shifting police schedules to have more on-duty officers, and as the parade organizers found more barricades.
“We’ve had officers working every night to try and get this to happen and make it work,” said Perrault. “I don’t think we’ve had sufficient time to prepare this at its best, but we’re going to give it every effort to make it come together.”
