WRPS officers clocking in more overtime hours than expected

Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) has spent much more than it planned to on paying for overtime hours.

WRPS has spent $3 million more for overtime than it had allotted in its 2024 operating budget for June.

Kirsten Hand, the police service's director of finance and assets, says staffing costs make the majority of the police budget.

"We do see salaries and wages being under budget due to [staffing] being below authorized levels and also seeing continued savings from maternity [and] paternity leaves," she said during the police services board meeting on Wednesday.

"However, [the savings] is offset by our overtime budget, and that is over budget by just over $3 million to date."

Hand says WRPS has seen an increase in overtime hours by almost 27 per cent compared to last year. A majority of those overtime hours were seen in the neighbourhood policing division.

Despite the sharp increase in overtime hours, Hand says the regional police service is overall still within budget.

"We are under budget due to lower uniform and fuel costs, maintenance and repairs, various services in our courts, voice radio, investigative and our wellness areas, telephone costs and lower meeting, training and conference fees — although we do see those typically increase in the second half of the year."

In November 2023, the police board approved a $228 million WRPS budget for 2024, up from the $214 million that was approved for 2023.

Chief Mark Crowell had said a large part of the increase was due to wages and recruiting new officers.

"That would allow us to hopefully catch up to a sustainable and smooth staffing landscape that will serve our community well," said Crowell at a board meeting on October 2023.

"We are hopefully on a track to find a sustainable way to staff, and a responsible way to staff the needs of our community and commensurate with the growth that we're seeing as one of the fastest growing communities in Canada."