New police station would help ‘underserved’ part of Mississauga near Toronto Pearson Airport

A plan is in the works to open a new Peel Regional Police mini-station in the “underserved” Malton area of Mississauga near Toronto Pearson Airport.

No details have been worked out, but a “dual-purpose facility” at or near the airport will be further discussed when Peel police brass meet with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority in December.

Responding to Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish’s request for such a sub-station in Malton, Peel police Deputy Chief Marc Andrews said at the most recent Peel Police Service Board meeting that the upcoming session with the group that operates Pearson Airport will explore plans for a new police station.

Any new sub-station would be significantly smaller than each of Peel’s five current operational divisions — 11 and 12 divisions in Mississauga, 21 and 22 divisions in Brampton and the Pearson Airport Division.

Andrews’ reference to a “dual-purpose facility” would see a new mini-station that beefs up enforcement — and police visibility — at both Canada’s biggest airport and the surrounding Malton commumity.

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish and Peel Regional Police Deputy Chief Marc Andrews, shown here at the Nov. 1 Peel Police Service Board meeting, talked about ways to increase police presence in Malton.

Ideally, Parrish suggested at the Nov. 1 meeting of the police board, a new sub-station in Malton would be staffed with some 30-40 officers.

She said while Peel police have “done a terrific job” patrolling Malton, specifically in addressing various concerns at the Westwood Square mall, more resources are needed to keep people safe.

Parrish added the Malton Youth Hub Jonathan Davis Centre, a $12.6-million meeting place/support facility for young people that opened in late 2023, has been a great success to date in both helping kids and keeping them away from crime.

Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah says Malton is “underserved” in terms of police presence.

Among its many other positive functions, the 18,000-sq.-ft. youth hub is “stopping the crime before it gets started,” the mayor said.

Still, more is needed to top up police visibility and enforcement in what for decades has been described by many as a “unique” area within Mississauga, Parrish said.

She added that, at some point, the airport “and a piece of Malton need to have a place where people know it’s always going to be there and it’s going to be easy to get (police) cruisers out.”

Andrews noted that while plans for a new station/dual-purpose police facility are more long term in nature, in the shorter term police are seeking ways in which to use existing resources at the airport division to reach out into Malton with additional support.

That “won’t have as big a footprint as we’d like, but it’s a starting point,” he said.

Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said it’s a priority to find a way to add police officers to Malton, which is “without a doubt underserved in terms of our ability to be present there.”