Halifax councillors approve $76-million police budget

Councillors approved the Halifax Regional Police’s draft budget for 2016-17 on Wednesday following a presentation by Police Chief Jean-Michel Blais.

The budget totals $76,761,200, which is $321,600 less than the previous year’s budget.

READ MORE: Halifax departments face budget cuts after council vetoes tax hikes

“My role is to be a good steward of the money that ratepayers pay, so having gone through everything as a result of our study, we determined that we didn’t require $321,000,” Blais said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "My role is to be a good steward of the money that ratepayers pay, so having gone through everything as a result of our study, we determined that we didn't require $321,000," Blais said.

The chief said efficiencies were found within the police department and would not compromise service.

“We’ve seen crime has gone down. We’ve been very fortunate with some investigations we’ve had over the last three years…we’ve been able to solve fairly quickly. So that’s helped,” he said.

“We’ve also had some very good luck as a very proactive approach when it comes down to historical homicides, which can also be very expensive.”

Coun. Russell Walker, who is also the chair of the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners, said the budget was the culmination of a lot of hard work, although there may be a few adjustments.

“This budget doesn’t include any salaries negotiations, which are going on now so that’s got to come back but at the present time, we’re happy with the budget that was presented,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This budget doesn't include any salaries negotiations, which are going on now so that's got to come back but at the present time, we're happy with the budget that was presented," he said.

The police department is also looking at whether to bring in body cameras worn by officers and red light cameras at intersections to catch speeders and drivers running red lights.

Both ideas are in the data-collection stage.

A report on body cameras is expected by the police commission in six months. Blais said any discussions surrounding body cameras would involve the provincial Justice Department and the community in light of privacy concerns.

He said he is also cognizant of the price tag associated with the cameras.

“We’ve seen in the United States that it’s being rolled out but they’re having a lot of problems,” he said. “They’re starting to see that cost is really incredible, especially on the backend when it comes to storage as well as utilization of that.”