Police commission unanimously approves two-year 2024-25 budget
The police executive is expected to provide an update to the budget in November regarding new alternative response officer positions.
Article content
After about 90 minutes of discussion and debate, the Saskatoon board of police commissioners unanimously approved the Saskatoon Police Service’s proposed operational and capital budgets on Thursday.
The 2024 operations budget, approved at $134,055,700 offset by $12,662,400 in expected revenues, is already expected to be revised at the police board’s Nov. 16 meeting, before council’s budget meetings later that month. As it stands, the funding request for next year is $121,393,300.
The update will account for one specific that was unknown heading into Thursday’s meeting — the cost to be covered by the police budget for the creation of new alternative response officer positions co-funded by the provincial government.
Chief Troy Cooper told the board the budgets were prepared before recent announcements from the Saskatoon Tribal Council and the province.
The STC announced in recent weeks the potential evictions of up to 30 people from its Emergency Wellness Centre who have what are termed “complex needs,” meaning they exhibit behaviour that makes them potentially unsafe to themselves or others.
The province earlier this month announced multi-year plans to address homelessness and mental health, which include funding for emergency and complex needs shelter spaces in Saskatoon and for community safety officers to patrol the areas around the new facilities.
With the funding details still to be finalized for the community safety officers, Cooper recommended the board pass the proposed budget as-is, with the update to come in November.
With matched funding expected from the province, police could create and fill two new alternative response officer positions by the end of 2023 and another four in 2024.
Currently, police have 10 AROs, six of whom are funded solely through the police budget.
Cooper said police will also be able to provide more information at the November meeting about the cost and benefit of the new AROs, and where they would be used.
“So, there wouldn’t just be a knee-jerk reaction to (the) potential for funding,” he said.
AROs, who are unarmed special constables, were initially targeted to the downtown and Riversdale neighbourhoods to patrol, respond to lower-risk calls and provide outreach. They have been deployed around the STC’s Wellness Centre since it opened.
The 2024 budget represents a 6.74 per cent increase over the 2023 budget; the 2025 budget will represent a 5.64 per cent increase, without funding toward the new AROs factored in.
In 2025, police expect to spend $141,038,400, offset by anticipated revenues of $12,796,300; the request to the city stands at $128,242,100.
Police also plan to create seven new regular police officer positions in 2024 — four patrol constables and three Community Mobilization Unit constables — and two civilian positions. In 2025, police plan to create eight new police officer positions — four patrol constables, three CMU constables and one Serious Assault Unit constable — plus one civilian position.
The capital budget, also approved Thursday, includes $3.095 million for equipment and technology replacements and $548,000 for equipment expansion. The capital budget is funded from existing capital reserves, which receive annual transfers from the operating budget.
Notably, the board heard that police plan to spend $219,000 in 2024 and $353,000 in 2025 on a body-worn camera project, as the number of cameras available will continue to increase.
The police operating and capital budgets will go to city council for approval next month.
With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark TheStarPhoenix.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.