A budget proposal that will be presented to the Waterloo Regional Police Services Board on Wednesday would see the service add 55 more officers over the next three years.
In 2023, the service is asking the board to approve a budget that would see it add 19 new officers in 2023, with 18 more being added in both 2024 and 2025.
The budget proposal does not say what the additional hirings will cost down the road but in 2023 it would be around $4.2 million.
The proposal is asking the board to approve an overall budget increase from around $200 million in 2022 to around $214 million in 2023.
According to the proposal, the 19 officers in 2023 would be in “high demand policing areas, including frontline and victim-focused areas.”
The report says the region, which has grown by about 30,000 people over the past two years, now has one of the smallest per capita services among major services in Ontario.
It also says the Crime Severity Index has jumped 34 per cent since 2012, going from 59.19 to 79. The index is published by Statistics Canada and measures changes in police-reported crime and reflects the nature of the severity.
The increase in the budget would cause the police portion of property tax bills to rise 9.35 per cent.
If the budget request is approved by the board on Wednesday, it would be presented to Waterloo regional council on Feb. 1, with final approval slated for Feb. 22.