Vancouver police seek to increase 2025 budget to $434M

The Vancouver Police Department is asking for an additional $23 million in funding for next year, bringing the VPD's total budget to $434 million.

The budget proposal was passed by the Vancouver Police Board on Thursday and will go in front of city council later this month for approval. 

Addressing the police board, VPD Chief Adam Palmer called the 5.56 per cent increase "extremely reasonable."

"We have done a scan across the entire country and we've looked at 18 different agencies in Canada, including our own, and we're in the bottom two or three of all agencies across Canada for budget increases for 2025," said Palmer.

The board rejected a less costly budget option of $421 million —  $13 million less — that was supported by city staff.

Palmer called the city staff recommendation a "keep the lights on" budget that was not adequate to meet the financial needs of the VPD.

Green Coun. Pete Fry said if the ABC-majority council votes to accept the police budget, it could jeopardize Mayor Ken Sim's promise to cap the 2025 property tax increase at 5.5 per cent.

"There's $13 million that's unaccounted for ... and certainly this new increase is more than what staff has been budgeting for. So it's going to come to a head," said Fry. "It will be challenging to meet that 5.5 per cent, that's for sure."

Included in the 2025 budget proposal is $6.6 million to launch a permanent body-worn camera program for frontline VPD officers. The plan would see 812 officers personally assigned a body-worn camera next year, with another 169 cameras put in a pool for use by members who are called out.

The board agreed that its finance committee will investigate phasing in the body-worn camera program across a longer timeline.

The VPD is expected to end this year $9 million over budget, according to a separate report to the board.

Overruns were attributed to many factors, including higher overtime costs from protests related to the Israel-Hamas war, planning costs for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and officers assisting in a city-led removal of a tent encampment from Hastings Street.

Crime in Vancouver continues to trend lower in 2024 compared to last year across all four Vancouver patrol districts, according to a VPD report to the board. The Public Safety Indicators Report for the third quarter of 2024 said violent crime was down 6.8 per cent from the same time period last year, and property crime was down 13.6 per cent with a 24.2 per cent decrease in break-and-enters.