SASKATOON — The Saskatoon Police Service will have an operating budget of more than $240 million in the next two years, money that will provide tools and other technology officers can use in serving the community.
Saskatoon City Council, late Monday night, unanimously approved the SPS budget recommendation of a $244,331,200 operating budget for 2022 ($119,710,700) and 2023 ($124,620,500) after the first day of the 2022/2023 budget meeting held via video conference.
Board of Police Commissioner chairperson Jo Custead, who appeared in the budget meeting with vice chair Kearney Healy, said the current COVID-19 pandemic will still be a factor when it comes to their revenues, cleaning costs and operations.
She said they have wanted to focus on having the best response to a growing community.
“We have been thoughtful, preventative and analytical in our planning and continue to look for revenue sources and savings. And perhaps most importantly, we are addressing the needs of a growing city. As you are all aware, Saskatoon is one of the fastest growing cities in Canada.”
“Increase in population means increased calls and a larger physical area for patrol officers to cover. In addition, citizen surveys rated public safety as one of the most important local issues. The board conducted extensive community conversations to understand values in policing, challenges to police public safety, and how we can work together to address these issues.”
Custead added the SPS budget would also fund their preventative efforts by hiring new frontline positions for 2022 and 2023 to keep their service level.
“Specialist positions to address violence. Social issues require a community response, but the service has a role to play by supporting partners, and by expanding capacity relating to mental health and addiction related calls.”
She said that as Saskatoon’s population grows, calls also increase and that’s why additional frontline resources are needed to keep the same service.
“We’re recommending eight new patrol constables in 2022 and four in 2023.”
She added, “One of the causes is related to illicit drug trafficking and addiction. We have had an eight per cent increase in drug seizures so far this year ... Opioids such as fentanyl are more present in our community, as evidenced by the growing number of overdoses.”
The SPS also saw an increase in violence in the city.
“This budget includes an analyst position to assist in complex drug gang firearm investigations. The analyst would free up policing resources currently tasked with this work. This budget also includes support staff for serious criminal investigations," said Custead.
“The additional resources in this budget would maintain our current police population ratio of 173 per 100,000 in population. The current officer ratio is relatively lean compared to other police services with similar community challenges; Edmonton and Winnipeg are examples.”
She added that they updated their hate crime reporting process and restructured their Criminal Investigation Division to have the resources in investigating and evaluating the impact of hate-motivated offenses.
Also included in the budget is the body-worn camera project where officers will start wearing the same technology that the SPS use in their police vehicles. The SPS is hoping to use the latest tools to modernize and ensure its delivery of services to the community. BWC would document a fair account of daily officer-community relations and they are looking to have 40 BWCs be used by its patrol officers — foot patrol, traffic, and bike unit — early next year.
