Peterborough police can’t keep operating with budget increases that only account for inflation, as their costs and needs far outweigh what they’ve been working with, says the police board chair.
“This is something we don’t take lightly,” said Mary ten Doeschate, Peterborough Police Services board chair at the board’s final meeting before the city’s budget discussions in November. “We can’t keep going with the three-per cent budget growth.”
Finance manager Tia Nguyen explained to the board the $35.07 million budget ask will cover 11 new positions but also the increased price of fuel, insurance premiums, recruitment and other costs.
The board chair said they worked hard to reduce the cost increases as much as possible, working backwards from a 17-per cent increase ask to 15.3-per cent.
“The service has been critically understaffed for years,” said Doeschate.
Board member and city councillor Gary Baldwin says the public needs to know it wasn’t possible for police to pull from reserves like they have previously to keep increases low.
“It’s important for council and the general public to understand,” he said.
Mayor and board member Jeff Leal said the increase equals about an $80 increase in costs per household, which will be critical in getting people to understand the budget ask.
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Leal, Baldwin and the rest of council will now deliberate on the police board’s proposed budget in November.
Zero-tolerance drug policy:
At the meeting, discussion of police’s new zero-tolerance policy for drug use in public spaces also came up.
Called the Safer Public Spaces policy, Chief Stuart Betts announced it on Oct. 5. At the time he said drug use in open air spaces could lead to arrests, and it was meant to encourage people to move along and use their drugs at locations like the Consumption and Treatment Services site on Simcoe Street.
At the meeting Chief Betts said this was a “marked departure” from police’s mentality up until now, but follows along with what British Columbia and Edmonton Police are doing.
Drug use in open spaces “never should have been tolerable,” said Chief Betts, adding “this approach is not about criminalizing people, this approach is about making safer public spaces.”
If agencies are able to leverage this new policy with the province to get inhalation services allowed at the consumption site that would be great, said Betts, “but that’s not police’s responsibility.”
For those who are homeless or “living rough” should move along to “wherever they are calling home,” he added.
But the response so far has been positive. Only two people have been arrested, and one of those arrests was for someone on a warrant and another was for stolen property.
“Everybody (police have spoken to) has said thank you very much, packed up their things and moved along,” said Betts.
Board Chair Mary ten Doeschate said “this is an excellent approach and the board fully supports it,” adding she’s received supportive comments about the policy from the community.
“All the feedback I have received is positive,” she said.
Head of Trent:
Partying could be heard across Peterborough during Trent University’s Head of Trent regatta in September. The annual celebrations associated with the event has led to many complaints from neighbours who say the rowdy behaviour has led to litter, property damage and public defecation.
Chief Betts said he was on the streets during the event, and saw the partying happening in the London Street area.
Many were visiting from other university towns and were going from party to party, said Betts. One group of five people stopped by police were wearing Trent University paraphernalia but only one was a Trent student, he adds.
Trent University was trying to make a safer environment, city crews were working hard on cleanup and the next morning student volunteers from the school worked on dealing with litter on peoples’ yards.
“There were a couple incidents,” said Betts, adding a city street sign was pulled down, some fence was broken and there was a complaint about public urination. Bear spray may have been used in that last incident.
“I am incredibly empathetic for the folks who live there who are not students or in student housing,” he said.
