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Durham to spend $154 million for police in 2011
No new officers in the department's budget
Mar 02, 2011 - 03:01 PM
Keith Gilligan
DURHAM -- Policing is going to cost taxpayers almost $154 million in 2011.
That's a 5.29-per cent increase over the Durham Regional Police Services budget of $146 million last year. No new officers are being hired this year.
The budget was approved by the Region's finance and administration committee on Tuesday and it will be forwarded to Regional council on March 9 for consideration.
Regional Chairman Roger Anderson, also chairman of the Police Services Board, said the department's budget is "status quo."
The police service has about 870 police officers and 367 civilian staff.
In an interview, Chief Mike Ewles said, "We'll still cover off staff that leave through attrition."
Staff now stationed at the Pickering and Darlington nuclear stations will come back to the force as Ontario Power Generation builds up its security department, he said.
"I only ask for them (new staff) when I need them," the chief added.
Deputy Chief Scott Burns noted the department is preparing for a new "shift schedule," set to start in January 2012.
"It's a big change for us," Deputy Chief Burns said. "It will take resources for that to happen. There will be more officers on the street when we need them, like during peak times."
Chief Ewles said, "We'll have the same number of staff working different hours."
The police association has filed a grievance about the planned shift changes, Deputy Chief Burns said.
The new shift schedule will require more supervisory personnel, facilities and 22 new marked cars, he noted.
Under Chief Ewles, "Our focus has been on infrastructure and not staff," the deputy chief said.
Infrastructure the department is planning includes new facilities, a common communication platform (radio system) that will allow the police and other agencies, such as OPG security staff, "to talk to each other."
A ground-breaking ceremony for an operations training facility in Whitby will be held in April and the site will open at the end of 2012, Deputy Chief Burns said. It will include a firearms training facility and the 911 operations centre.
A new police station in Clarington is scheduled for 2014 and it would include a forensics building, he said.
"Our debt will be an issue going forward," he noted.
The Durham force placed second among Canadian municipalities of more than 100,000 in a ranking of 'weighted clearance rate', or the percentage of crimes solved, at 47.6 per cent, said the deputy chief. Kingston was first at 47.8.
While crime rates have been dropping across the country, primarily as the population ages, challenges in the future include adults who go missing, he said.
From 2008 to 2009, the number increased 11 per cent.
"They're missing and they don't have all their faculties. It's important to all of us."
The complexity of the work has also gone up, he noted.
In 1985, while investigating a domestic assault, there were 37 steps an officer needed to follow and these took one to two hours to complete. In 2005, the number of steps had risen to 58 and took 10 to 12 hours.
No new officers in the department's budget
Mar 02, 2011 - 03:01 PM
Keith Gilligan
DURHAM -- Policing is going to cost taxpayers almost $154 million in 2011.
That's a 5.29-per cent increase over the Durham Regional Police Services budget of $146 million last year. No new officers are being hired this year.
The budget was approved by the Region's finance and administration committee on Tuesday and it will be forwarded to Regional council on March 9 for consideration.
Regional Chairman Roger Anderson, also chairman of the Police Services Board, said the department's budget is "status quo."
The police service has about 870 police officers and 367 civilian staff.
In an interview, Chief Mike Ewles said, "We'll still cover off staff that leave through attrition."
Staff now stationed at the Pickering and Darlington nuclear stations will come back to the force as Ontario Power Generation builds up its security department, he said.
"I only ask for them (new staff) when I need them," the chief added.
Deputy Chief Scott Burns noted the department is preparing for a new "shift schedule," set to start in January 2012.
"It's a big change for us," Deputy Chief Burns said. "It will take resources for that to happen. There will be more officers on the street when we need them, like during peak times."
Chief Ewles said, "We'll have the same number of staff working different hours."
The police association has filed a grievance about the planned shift changes, Deputy Chief Burns said.
The new shift schedule will require more supervisory personnel, facilities and 22 new marked cars, he noted.
Under Chief Ewles, "Our focus has been on infrastructure and not staff," the deputy chief said.
Infrastructure the department is planning includes new facilities, a common communication platform (radio system) that will allow the police and other agencies, such as OPG security staff, "to talk to each other."
A ground-breaking ceremony for an operations training facility in Whitby will be held in April and the site will open at the end of 2012, Deputy Chief Burns said. It will include a firearms training facility and the 911 operations centre.
A new police station in Clarington is scheduled for 2014 and it would include a forensics building, he said.
"Our debt will be an issue going forward," he noted.
The Durham force placed second among Canadian municipalities of more than 100,000 in a ranking of 'weighted clearance rate', or the percentage of crimes solved, at 47.6 per cent, said the deputy chief. Kingston was first at 47.8.
While crime rates have been dropping across the country, primarily as the population ages, challenges in the future include adults who go missing, he said.
From 2008 to 2009, the number increased 11 per cent.
"They're missing and they don't have all their faculties. It's important to all of us."
The complexity of the work has also gone up, he noted.
In 1985, while investigating a domestic assault, there were 37 steps an officer needed to follow and these took one to two hours to complete. In 2005, the number of steps had risen to 58 and took 10 to 12 hours.
