Public safety is a top concern across Canada, the province, and locally in our city. Based on Brampton’s 2025 Budget telephone townhall poll and follow-up survey from Councillor Rowena Santos, residents overwhelmingly identified public safety as their top concern.
“Brampton is now the second-largest population in the GTHA, but for decades has been chronically underfunded by other orders of government, putting community safety at risk,” said Santos. “This is why advocating for and addressing public safety remains a top priority for me. Together with Mayor Patrick Brown, I have championed local solutions to address safety concerns such as auto theft, encampments, and unsafe driving.”
Before the final budget vote at the Region of Peel, Councillor Santos conducted a text survey delivered to 9,000 residents in Wards 1 & 5 to better understand their safety concerns. Results indicate that constituents support increased investment in public safety.
The 2025 Regional Council budget was approved to include a historic investment to hire 300 new police officers. This bold step will bring police staffing levels in line with other municipalities and strengthen the region’s capacity to address complex safety challenges, including intimate partner and gender-based violence, declared an epidemic by the city and region in 2023.
“Our resources and capacity to address complicated safety issues in our community have not kept pace with growth,” added Santos. “This historic investment to bring on 300 police officers this year will help keep our growing community safe. When a woman calls for help because of a violent partner, we need to make sure a police officer is there to respond.”
On February 12th, Santos joined Council colleagues and Peel Police Chief Duraiappah at a significant milestone graduation event with the first class of 47 recruits (out of 300 this year) being sworn into their new roles. These officers will bring fresh energy, diverse perspectives, and a shared dedication to service.
“Congratulations and deep gratitude to the first 47 police officers sworn in this year. As more recruits complete their training and graduate in the coming months, residents can look forward to seeing a visible and impactful difference in their neighborhoods,” Santos added.
In addition to public safety investments, the survey from Santos asked residents to rank their top safety concerns. Key issues identified are road safety, auto theft, break and enters, drugs and gangs, and violent crime.
With unsafe drivers as the top concern, Santos brought forward a motion calling for action and the “Safer Drivers = Safer Roads” petition for the provincial government to improve driver examination processes and crack down on fraudulent driving instructors and examiners.
“Addressing public safety issues in our community requires attention and investment from all orders of government. We are doing our part in Brampton to respond by supporting the police budget and bringing local solutions to the table. The provincial and federal governments also have a role to play. We hope they will strengthen legislation and support to improve public safety in Brampton,” concluded Santos.
