Editorial: London police should not receive planned $672 million funding

The London Police Service is currently slated to receive an additional $672 million to their base funding over the next four years in the upcoming municipal budget — but this money would be better spent elsewhere. 

How to spend over half-a-billion dollars in funding is not a decision that should be made lightly, especially as the city plans a hefty property tax increase. With London ranked one of the most dangerous cities in the province, it’s clear that major solutions are needed to address crime, homelessness and safety in the city. But throwing $672 million at the police isn’t it. 

With the support of the London mayor, Western University president Alan Shepard and others, the money is set to go toward initiatives like a new training centre, hiring more officers and body cameras.

LPS has demonstrated several major organizational weaknesses that affect their ability to serve student and non-student residents alike in London. 

To be clear, the service does not appear to be operating under major financial constraints. In 2016, the LPS received a $393 million budget increase. And yet, London continues to face challenges with safety. It’s not just London — research suggests increasing police funding doesn’t necessarily reduce crime rates in Canada.

The LPS has also recently been in the media for its mishandling of a 2018 alleged sexual assault case involving several members of Canada’s World Juniors hockey team. This event is hardly an outlier — 43 per cent of sexual assault cases handled by the LPS last year resulted in no charges laid. 

Another recent example we believe demonstrates poor management of LPS funds is a recent trip that sent at least five members of the LPS SWAT team to Dubai to participate in a SWAT competition, at a cost of $15,700.

Ultimately, we simply cannot trust the LPS with such a significant sum of taxpayer money — and should put it to other community services instead.

Social services such as homeless shelters, mental health services and rehabilitation support may be better ways to spend some of the significant money currently being proffered to the LPS. Providing funding in these areas will help more Londoners and may address some of the root causes of crime.

Community Outreach And Support Team, a partnership the LPS has with community groups including the Canadian Mental Health Association Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services could also benefit from more funding. This program is intended to “reduce police-led responses to situations where an individual is experiencing a mental health/addiction crisis” and could potentially be scaled up with further funding. 

Funding could also be reallocated towards services such as the London Public Library and the London Transit Commission. Both services are currently slated to receive funding increases that are far more modest than the LPS’s proposed package and could benefit from additional cash.

We’re not saying we don’t need police, and they are important in making London a safer place. But police don’t need to be the first line of response to all crisis situations, and alternative forms of responses could be beneficial.

While the LPS should not receive the full amount of funding, it is important to acknowledge certain items, such as body cameras — pegged at 4.2 million in the budget breakdown — may be beneficial as tools to help hold police forces accountable. Steps like these may contribute to a more transparent police service.

However, body cameras come with their own limitations, such as who can access the footage and whether cameras can be turned off by officers. Regardless, items like body cameras make up only a small part of the LPS’ overall $672 million budget ask. 

At the end of the day, where there is a lot of poverty and people living in precarious situations, we know crime will increase if people cannot access the social services they require. Instead of increasing the policing of these issues, London should focus on supporting its residents through social services.

London’s police force is one of the least staffed in the province, and there are valid reasons for the LPS receiving much more funding — just not $672 million of it.

City council should refuse the LPS their full $672 million budget request. Instead, the council should look towards reallocating funding social services in the city, and focus on transparency in how the LPS spends the money they already have.