Greater Sudbury Police are seeking a budget increase next year of 3.8 per cent, followed by 3.9 per cent in 2018 and 3.5 per cent in 2019.
While a small part of the increase – 0.3 per cent – is to fund an $18.8 million upgrade to police headquarters, the remainder is mostly due to wage increases dictated by union agreements.
Police Chief Paul Pedersen led the board through a lengthy budget review Tuesday afternoon that emphasized the force is already lean and efficient. He said policing costs are a challenge in a community that is larger geographically than in any other city in Ontario.
“In respect to policing, one size does not fit all,” Pedersen said, adding that he isn't looking to add any constables to the 264-person force he has now.
Last year, instead of police, they added community safety personnel who were able to take over some non-policing duties at a much lower cost.
“And that's something we're proud of,” he said. “We're asked to do more with less every year.”
Requests for police routinely exceed the number of officers available, he said, meaning there is usually a backlog of 40-60 calls. While emergency calls are responded to quickly, Pedersen said today, police are being asked to respond to a range of situations, including mental health issues, addictions and bear calls.
Out of the roughly 60,000 calls a year they receive, only about 15 per cent are crime-related.
“The challenges of our time go beyond crime,” he said. “We really have championed community health and well-being.
“It's not our goal to be just good enough. It's not our goal to be average. We aim to be community leaders.”
In total, next year's police budget is $55,604,204, of which about 85 per cent goes to pay wages. Police want to debt finance the $18.8 million in upgrades to their building, and that's reflected in hikes spread out over three years.
While it's a lot of money, and more than the two per cent guidelines suggested by the city, Pedersen said a recent review by KPMG found that Sudbury police are efficient and lean. And it recommended the building upgrades as a way to improve.
It's like paying for insurance, he said. No one likes the premiums, but are grateful they have it when a disaster strikes.
“This is not just another budget, this is truly an investment,” Pedersen said. “We're an essential service, not a necessary evil.”
Unfortunately, police don't have access to revenue streams they can use instead of an increase in taxes. And they can't say no if someone calls for help.
“I don't mean to sound flip, but I can't say you're only allowed to report three crimes this week,” Pedersen said. “I can't say to victims, here's your bill for investigating crimes this week. We don't close. These officers are working all the time.”
While the budget recommendation was approved, Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier abstained from the vote. Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini, the other representative from council, voted in favour.
After the meeting, Montpellier said he abstained because he's still not sure why policing costs are increase by so much.
“I still want more information,” Montpellier said.
The police budget will go to city council next month as part of the city's 2017 budget process. Policing takes up about 10 per cent of the city's entire budget.
