The Saskatoon Police Service is asking the city for a budget increase to hire more police officers and other staff in 2017.
The preliminary police budget calls for a $3.3 million increase 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. The police budget will be discussed more at city hall on Thursday during the Board of Police Commissioners meeting.
