A meeting on community safety was held in the library at Casa loma on May 14th. In attendance were 6 representatives from Toronto Police Services, Councillor Josh Matlow and MP Leslie Church. About 100 residents attended. The meeting was organized by Councillor Matlow and the CLRA to address neighbourhood concerns about an increase in break-ins, car thefts and home invasions, most noticeably evidenced in neighbouring Forest Hill.
Here’s what we learned. Since the beginning of the year there have been 8 break-ins and no home invasions in the Casa Loma area (defined by the police as the area between Bathurst (west) Lonsdale (north) Avenue Road (east) and Dupont (south). The police did not suggest this was alarming and the police have been taking steps to deal with home break-ins including designating 2 officers in each of the 17 divisions to specialize in this area . Car theft has also declined over the past couple of years from 42 in 2023 to 10 in 2025.
They also emphasized there are measures we can take to make our neighbourhood safer and less attractive to criminals.
- Install cameras
- Trim bushes in front to improve sightlines from the street and next door neighbours
- Be vigilant for suspicious activities or persons on the street or on a neighbour’s property
- Be mindful to lock doors and windows
- Light areas outside the home (after dark or by motion detection)
- Consider a neighbourhood watch supported by a dedicated FaceBook page.
Video from a security camera is assisting in the investigation of the recent torching of a car on Wells Hill Ave.
The CLRA now has a liaison officer at Police Services that will attend with us and help us identify specific measures we can take to reduce the risk of crime in our neighbourhood.
The meeting also learned that some in the audience are willing to attack anyone entering their property. The police cautioned that, although we have the right to defend ourselves and our property, any force has to be reasonable and justified under the circumstances.
The police also recognize that we have had encampment issues in our ravine and that they have to work with the Encampment Team at the City of Toronto to deal with these (usually initiated by a 311 call). However, if any of the people in the encampment are threatening we can call 911 and report.
The CLRA has established a Safety and Security Committee currently composed of Jessica Li, Dyan Kirshenbaum, Annabel Weinstein and Robert Levy to investigate what options there might be to make our community safer. In addition to following reports available through the Police Public Safety Public Portal, the Committee will investigate what options might exist to make our community safer and will work with our police liaison officer to help us build a safer community. The committee will look at security systems and services in use in our neighbourhood. Some are expensive to install and monitor; others are self installed and monitored such as Ring doorbells and indoor and outdoor cameras such as those available online or at stores like BestBuy. If you would like to participate please contact the CLRA at .
We will keep you up to date through future communications.
