Toronto public policing for hire: The effects of commodification of policing services in the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area

The promise of Neo-liberal governance has shifted policing priorities from complaint, response, and punishment to preventative patrols and a stronger police presence. As a response to private security's dominance in policing communal spaces, public policing service providers are tailoring their services to fulfill demands made by organizations willing to pay large sums of money for premium police services.;This paper presents results from a representative Merchant Security Satisfaction Survey (n = 147) of downtown Yonge store owners and managers, over twenty interviews with members of the Toronto Police Service, and ethnographical research. Increased police visibility via privately funded foot patrols reduces the opportunity for individuals to engage in disorder, while simultaneously reducing fear of crime. The constables on patrol fill out reporting formats designed to help manage risk, and submit these products not to their policing superiors but rather to the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area administration. New working partnerships between merchants and police are thus emerging, as private organizations are increasingly directing police work. Through the commodification of public policing services, the Toronto Police Service has rediscovered an innovative way to compete with private security for the responsibility of policing communal spaces reminiscent of historical policing.