VPD says protests, playoffs explain $10M budget bust

The Vancouver Police Department is blaming an increase in protests and other major events for already exceeding its annual budget.

A report presented to the Vancouver Police Board in September found that in the second quarter, the department was over budget by more than $10 million.

By year end, the report forecasts that number could be down to $6.5 million over budget, though that number is difficult to predict due to overtime, benefits and certainty over funding sources.

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The department has attributed the majority of the cost increase to overtime related to protests, many of them focused on the Israel-Hamas war, and special events including the Vancouver Canucks playoff run.

“The majority of those police officers that are staffing those protests are coming on overtime because we can’t draw our regular duty officers from other neighbourhoods,” VPD spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison said.

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The police board report argues that without the major events, the department’s year-end projection would be about $3.5 million over budget, under one per cent of its $400 million budget.

“Public safety is the most important issue on people’s minds. People deserve to feel safe, we’re not going to skimp on public safety,” Addison said.

“You can’t do this stuff on the cheap.”

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One city councillor, however, says he’s concerned about the department’s spending, and questions why Vancouver is left to bear the financial cost of events that draw people from around the region.

“We can’t consistently accommodate overages in the multiple millions of dollars and balance budgets, it’s a challenging situation,” Green Coun. Pete Fry said.

“It’s certainly the argument for a regional police force but perhaps it could trigger a conversation about regional investment to support Vancouver policing in the absence of a regional police force.”

Vancouver police say they are currently gearing up for events related to the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer is slated to provide an update on those plans on Friday.