EDMONTON – The police chief asked city council for a funding increase of more than $20 million over the next three years, but on Wednesday, council approved a total increase of $8.79 million over that three year period. However, council passed a motion on a new formula that will allow for sustainable, year-to-year funding for police.
Edmonton City Council unanimously passed a motion that would see the Edmonton Police Service Operating Budget increased by $2.8 million in 2016, $2.46 million in 2017 and $3.53 million in 2018 “to fund net operating requirements on an ongoing basis with funding from the funding available for City Council and that these amounts be fixed over the next three years for planning certainty, but that the net operating requirement be re-based for actual inflation and population growth factors as an input to the 2019-2020 Operating Budget cycle.”
On Nov. 27, Chief Rod Knecht presented his department’s budget proposal to council, requesting a funding increase of more than $20 million over the next three years, including an increase of 24 officers.
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This funding will allow the EPS to hire about six or seven more officers.
“You’re not going to see much of a difference,” said Knecht. “We’re looking at six or seven more positions. We’re a 24/7, 365 day-a-year service, so you’re actually going to see one or two more police officers on the street for the entire city at any given time.”
WATCH: The Edmonton Police Service will have to work with less after the city passed its budget for the next three years. Fletcher Kent reports.
Knecht said they are going to have to cut back in the “nice-to-do” areas that are important, but not the priority of keeping communities safe.
“In the end, when someone calls 911, they expect an officer to show up. They demand it,” the police chief said.
He added the EPS will be going to communities in the spring for community consultation to find out where their priorities are.
“In consultation with Edmontonians, we’ll focus on the highest priorities for keeping Edmonton safe and some things are just going to fall off the table.”
“We can’t be all things to all people all the time within finite budgets, that’s just not realistic.”
While the amount wasn’t what they’d hoped for, Knecht understands the city is in a tight spot when it comes to dollars. He also supports the new funding structure, which provides “consistent, sustainable funding” to allow for planning year-to-year.
“I wish we could do more,” said Councillor Dave Loken. “If we do anything, we need to protect our citizens.”
Mayor Don Iveson and the police chief will now go to the province to ask for its financial support.
“We’re policing inner city Northern Alberta, not just Edmonton,” said Iveson.
He wants to see ten cents per every dollar spent on policing. Currently, smaller communities like Red Deer get 10 cents from the province for every dollar it spends on policing. Right now, Edmonton gets about 6.5 cents.
“Red Deer and all the other cities get 10 cents on the dollar. The towns tend to get 30 cents on the dollar and the smaller communities under 5,000 get the entire cost of their policing paid for by other orders of government,” said Iveson.
“Edmontonians – and Calgarians for that matter – are really at a huge disadvantage compared to the rest of Albertans when it comes to the funding that we get from other orders of government for policing…That has to end at some point.”
The police chief said EPS has been in conversation with the province and has already had some good response. Iveson said there’s a lot the province could do to help, including helping reduce backlogs in court, and police issues involving addictions and mental health.
Knecht said there have been close to 12,000 additional calls for service compared to this time last year. He also said there’s been a 11.1 per cent increase in violent crime in Edmonton.
“We were a little taken a back by the number of calls for service, how quickly things went up over this last year, quite significant,” he said on Nov. 27.
The police department is the biggest expense for the city; accounting for nearly 15 per cent of the operating budget.
Edmonton has been trying to find ways to trim down the proposed 4.9 per cent tax hike for next year.
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