Ottawa police are requesting that 10 more officers be hired by October in order to battle gun violence in the city, according to a memo sent to councillors from Mayor Jim Watson on Tuesday.
According to the memo, if the motion put forth by the police service is approved in council, the officers would be assigned to directly address gun violence.
The memo goes on to say that these officers would assist with conducting shooting investigations — proactive covert investigations into people and groups involved in shootings — and community-based enforcement and suppression initiatives with a focus on prevention and intervention activities.
“Hiring these 10 officers will reinforce our efforts to deal with the increase in shootings and gun violence we are seeing,” said Watson in the memo. “The earliest the Service can hire direct entry officers is in October. The goal is to have these resources available and deployable as soon as possible.”
According to the memo, the projected budget increase would cost $660,000. $435,000 would be for for staffing costs from October to December, and $225,000 would be for vehicles and mobile data terminals.
Municipal taxpayers most likely won’t be saddled with the bill, though, as Watson cites anticipated federal funding promised in November 2017 to offset the cost of the new officers. The federal government has promised $327.6 million over five years, and $100 million annually after that to reduce gun crime and criminal activities.
“The funding will help communities deal with the rise in gun and gang violence being seen across Canada,” said Watson.
Them motion will be brought before the Police services board on June 25.