City council will have to decide whether to give the Saskatoon Police Service additional money in next year’s budget.
The board of police commissioners approved a request Thursday for an extra $3.3 million to hire four new patrol officers and two detectives.
The budget also includes additional medical staff in the detention unit and a lawyer and privacy officer to facilitate freedom of information guidelines. It's a 3.9 per cent increase over the 2016 budget.
Mayor Charlie Clark says it's important to find efficiencies within the police service to tackle crime, but there is also a need for more officers as the city grows.
“As I’ve said during the campaign, and I believe, we are not going to be able to arrest our way out of crime,” Clark said.
“At the same time, as the city grows and as we add new neighborhoods, we do have to add a certain number of officers to make sure we can keep on with our patrol.”
Clark says a police service review will be tabled in the future that will offer insight into how the service can operate more effectively.
City council will begin budget deliberations on Nov. 30.
