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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.