Police asking for additional $760k in 2023 budget
The Saskatoon Police Service presented its 2023 budget to city council on Monday with a request of an additional $760,000.
With the city currently working through its first two-year budget cycle, SPS increased its original budget proposal from 2021 with three notable alterations.
Natural gas, fuel price increases and other inflationary pressures accounted for $410,000 of the additional ask while moving the alternate response unit from a pilot project to a regularly deployed unit accounts for the remaining $350,000 change in the budget proposal.
“I think the economic environment sort of dictated what we could ask for coming into the budget. There are no end of needs in our police service and certainly we would add policing staff if we could, but we tried our best to maintain the budget that we proposed in 2021,” Chief Troy Cooper said after presenting the budget to council.
Cooper said the SPS will conduct a full staffing review in the new year to see where the service’s needs can be best directed for the next two-year budget.
The proposed budget includes adding 11 full-time equivalent positions. Three of those positions will be added to the Internet Child Exploitation unit, two for the trafficking response unit and the six officers as part of the alternative response pilot program will be added as full time equivalent positions.
With no decision made on the SPS budget as of Monday evening, multiple councillors voiced plenty of support for the alternative response unit.
Launched in June 2021, the alternative response officers work with vulnerable people and help connect them to community services. The officers also assist in a variety of other ways like transporting arrested people and taking complaints from members of the public.
Cooper said it’s the unit’s ability to spend more time with community members and familiarity with the area compared to an average officer working in the downtown area.
“I think the alternative response officers filled a gap that was missing in the community, particularly as we saw some of the growing social issues,” Cooper said.
The total net funding of the SPS budget is $113,724,000, up from $112,964,000.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
How quietly promised law changes in the 2024 federal budget could impact your day-to-day life
The 2024 federal budget released last week includes numerous big spending promises that have garnered headlines. But, tucked into the 416-page document are also series of smaller items, such as promising to amend the law regarding infant formula and to force banks to label government rebates, that you may have missed.
Which foods have the most plastics? You may be surprised
'How much plastic will you have for dinner, sir? And you, ma'am?' While that may seem like a line from a satirical skit on Saturday Night Live, research is showing it's much too close to reality.
opinion I've been a criminal attorney for decades. Here's what I think about the case against Trump
Joey Jackson, a criminal defence attorney and a legal analyst for CNN, outlines what he thinks about the criminal case against Donald Trump in the 'hush money trial.'
$3.8M home in B.C.'s Okanagan has steel shell for extra wildfire protection
A home in B.C.'s Okanagan that features a weathering steel shell designed to provide some protection against wildfires has been listed for sale at $3.8 million.
Diver pinned under water by an alligator figured he had choice. Lose his arm or lose his life
An alligator attacked a diver on April 15 as he surfaced from his dive, nearly out of air. His tank emptied with the gator's jaws crushing the arm he put up in defence.
Psychologist becomes first person in Peru to die by euthanasia after fighting in court for years
A Peruvian psychologist who suffered from an incurable disease that weakened her muscles and had her confined to her bed for several years, died by euthanasia, her lawyer said Monday, becoming the first person in the country to obtain the right to die with medical assistance.
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
Celebrity designer sentenced to 18 months in prison for smuggling crocodile handbags
A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the 'Sex and the City' TV series was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court on charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia.
Wildfire leads to evacuation order issued for northeast Alberta community
An evacuation order was issued on Monday afternoon for homes in the area of Cold Lake First Nation.