EDMONTON – City Council rejected the Edmonton Police Service’s request for $6.4 million in additional funding Tuesday morning.
Instead, council will be asking senior levels of government for added support for police.
Councillor Tony Caterina was in support of the request for additional funds, however, it did not gain enough backing from other members of council.
Councillor Kerry Diotte said the police budget increases are not sustainable.
Mayor Stephen Mandel was also against the motion, saying some years one might have to “slow down.”
Council members explained they decided against the additional funding to send a message to senior levels of government. They said the decision was not due to lack of support for the Edmonton Police Service but they believe that services are being offloaded onto the city and therefore taxpayers are forced to pay the consequences.
Last Tuesday, when Police Chief Rod Knecht presented the funding request, he told city council transferring prisoners to and from correctional facilities within the city and court is costing the city $1.2 million.
Mayor Stephen Mandel said at the time he believed inmate transportation is a provincial or federal responsibility.
“We have to send a strong message to the province that we’re not going to do this. We’re not going to transport people for free,” said Mandel last Tuesday.
Chief Knecht was disappointed with the decision made by council Tuesday morning, but wants people to know they have no reason to be worried.
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“We will continue to deliver a good service. We have very dedicated people out there that are acting in the best interest of Edmontonians. Public safety and security is the reason we exist.”
He calls the denied funding “a challenge” but promises the force will do its best to meet that challenge.
Monday, Edmonton city council began deliberations about the 2013 budget.
The additional $6.5 million was requested to fund 29 new police positions.
“We’re not asking for 29 in hopes we get 15. We’re saying 29 is really what we need to continue to deliver the service that Edmontonians have asked of us,” said Police Chief Rod Knecht after making the request.
The majority of those position would have been allocated to community patrol and the homicide section.
The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) receives the largest distribution of local tax dollars.
The $6.5 million request was in addition to the $13.5 million the EPS needs to maintain current service levels. The proposed 2013 EPS budget would have reached just over $284 million if the additional funding was approved.
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