Council approves $92.8M operating budget for Regina police, including money for new plane

Regina police will get money to hire additional officers and buy a new plane, after city council approved the police service's $92.8 million net operating budget on Wednesday.

Debate on the proposed budget lasted all of Wednesday. It was ultimately approved in a 7-4 vote, with Couns. Cheryl Stadnichuk, Andrew Stevens, Daniel Leblanc and Shanon Zachidniak voting against it.

The budget includes money for new positions, including 16 police officers, seven civilian roles and a new deputy chief.

It also includes funding for the contentious addition of a plane for the Regina Police Service. 

Funding for drug screening devices and shotguns was also approved in the operating budget, which is about $3.5 million more than what was approved last year. 

Along with the operating budget, council approved roughly $4.7 million for the police service's capital budget, plus an additional $548,000 funded by Saskatchewan Government Insurance. 

The operating budget covers things like salary, while the capital budget covers things like facilities.

The budget estimates total operating expenditures of nearly $103.7 million and revenues of nearly $10.9 million, according to a report presented to council for Wednesday's vote.

Increase in budget, increasing scrutiny

The proposed budget increase was an issue Regina police Chief Evan Bray addressed during council's debate.

He acknowledged that scrutiny of police is at an all-time high and that the service needs to be able to show it's providing valuable services. 

Bray said the service needed a budget increase because a growing population demands more from the city and its police service.

Those demands "have grown and our overall budget has moved lockstep, I would say, with the city of Regina — not out of step, but lockstep with the city," he said. 

The force is experiencing a growing number of calls that are increasingly complex, Bray said.

He pointed to the 16 additional officer positions as a direct response to those needs. 

"If we're constantly moved into areas of the city where we're responding to just social challenges, we don't have the resources to respond in every area that deserves and needs that proactive work," Bray said.

Staff costs make up 88 per cent of the operating budget, according to the report presented to council. 

Plane for the police

The most controversial item proposed in the budget was a plane and funding for a team to operate it. 

The plane is expected to cost about $1.6 million. 

Speaking after the budget was passed, Mayor Sandra Masters said the decision to approve the purchase came down to good timing and the ability to get funding from the provincial government to subsidize the cost. 

The Saskatchewan government is putting forward more than $1.3 million for the aerial project, with the City of Regina chipping in around $275,000. 

"I think this was the year, because if you didn't do it this year, do you lose the provincial funding?" she said.

"All of a sudden that tool, which continues to prove to be an enormous asset in every other major western Canadian city, we continue not to have it and then we're going to pay more for it."

Councillors also heard from about nine delegates at Wednesday's meeting. Many expressed concern that the police budget is rising but that not enough is being done to deal with the root causes of crime. 

Carla Harris, a business person who lives with a disability in Regina, said the city needs to improve its strategy for preventing crime, rather than relying on reactive measures. 

Coun. Lori Bresciani questioned Harris, asking if she knew about preventative work police are involved in, such as the Scott Police Academy — a program created by Regina Public Schools and the Regina Police Service — and Saskatchewan Polytechnic's Aboriginal Policing Preparation program.

Harris said she was well aware of the programs. 

"So many of these programs are kind of representational and don't actually necessarily provide results," she said. 

Giving the funding instead to organizations to use in programming they offer to people in their communities, "and employing people who live in their communities — not police officers who may not … would be a lot more productive," Harris said.

At least two delegates spoke in favour of passing the budget as is, including Casey Ward, president of the Regina Police Association, and executives from Crime Stoppers.