Police chief Gord Cobey stood in front of the Guelph Police Services Board Thursday and asked for an almost 10 per cent increase in the police operating budget for 2020.
Corby wants to add 30 new employees that he says will get the department to the staffing levels it needs to handle its current responsibilities and prepare for the city’s ongoing growth. That includes 18 new front line officers.
Cobey made the request for a $45.9 million 2020 operating budget — a $3.9 million increase over last year.
“This is not in any way a wish list and a bunch of extras,” said Cobey to the board. “This is what we are trying to do to make sure we can meet the community’s priorities and the community’s needs, and the wellness needs of our people. This is what we feel is a reasonable ask to meet those needs.”
With its current level of staffing, the Guelph Police Service is not well positioned to meet its current responsibilities, let alone deal with the responsibilities that come with new federal and provincial legislation.
“It may not be popular for me to say this, we are not well positioned and we are certainly not well positioned to meet our continued responsibilities as the community grows,” said Cobey. “This is the correction required. This is not something we expect to do again, ever.”
With the $3.9 million increase comes 31.5 full time equivalent (FTE) positions, 18 police and 13.5 civilian. That’s up from eight FTE positions added in the previous year.
Of the positions proposed for 2020, eight will be neighbourhood services police officers, three identification unit officers, two traffic officers, two HEAT officers, and a new deputy chief of administration.
Civilian positions proposed to be added will include eight communicators, one ident lab technician, one wellness coordinator and one media relations coordinator, among others.
Cobey said the growth of the service has not kept up with the growth of the community over the years.
Demand for service, response times, crime rates and the severity of those crimes are all on the rise, said Cobey.
For five years in a row between 2007 and 2011, the City of Guelph was named Canada’s safest city by Statistics Canada. As of 2018 it had dropped to 16th place.
“We are showing you the data of where the trend is headed,” said deputy chief Paul Martin during the presentation. “It’s negatively affecting the community. We want to stem that tide and reverse that trend.”
Overtime costs, which are needed to cover things like medical leave, totalled more than $1.9 million last year alone.
“Our service is projected to get $2 million in overtime for the first time ever this year,” said Cobey. “Our members have told us they want to provide the service, but they are tired.”
In its report, Guelph Police Service said it has received information that the Ministry of the Attorney General is seeking an additional judge, requiring an additional officer in court for the 100 days it is expected to sit.
“At minimum one court officer will be assigned security duties for this court room,” said the report. When there is an in-custody matter assigned to this court at 59 Carden, it will require two security officers to ensure proper prisoner care and control.”
Martin said the additional 30-plus staff will have an effect on community safety in Guelph.
“If there is a (break and enter) at your house, you should have a response in a reasonable amount of time. If someone seizes exhibits form that B and E, they should have the ability to process those exhibits in a reasonable amount of time, so that we may actually be able to find who did it,” said Martin.
Mayor Cam Guthrie, who sits on the police service board, said community safety was one of the things he heard most when door knocking during the 2018 municipal election campaign.
“I was going door to door and a guy was on a ladder as I went up his driveway and he was installing video cameras on his house. Why? Because his car was broken into for the second time,” said Guthrie.
He acknowledged it is a big ask, but said he believes the people of Guelph will get behind the increased police budget.
“I can’t see our citizens saying, 'no we don’t need this.' I think they are going to say, ‘finally,’ said Guthrie.
A decision to defer the vote on the operating budget was made after board member Christine Billings had some concerns with the math that compared police operating budgets between similarly-sized municipalities.
“We are looking at an almost 10 per cent increase with 31.5 FTE — and that is a lot,” said Billings.
She also wondered if it was possible to stagger the financial impact over two years, instead of one.
Board member Robert Carter noted that Guelph is one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada.
“With the bragging rights that goes with that, there is a lot of other stuff,” said Carter. “I don’t think we can run and hide from that.”
