Board chair, chief willing to review police role but don't support defunding

Investing in social services and reassessing the role of police in the community are good ideas, but shouldn't be accomplished through cutting the existing police budget, say both the chief and police services board chair in Waterloo region.

The idea of defunding police has gained attention in recent weeks following the murder of a Black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis, as well as the death in Toronto of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a Black woman who fell from her balcony while police were in her home.

In Toronto, two councillors have floated the idea of cutting their police budgets by $10 million. The motion will go before city council at the end of the month. 

In Waterloo region, activists are calling to end a school resource officer program and a community outreach program that brings officers together with young people, which activists say encourage police surveillance.

They're also calling for a cut of at least $29.3 million from the existing police budget, to be reinvested in social services and community-led safety programs.

"I think that there are ways of dealing with one another and ways of looking out for one another that precede police, that go back for a very long time," said Ruth Cameron, with the African Caribbean and Black Network of Waterloo Region. 

"I'm interested in looking at those as well as new ways that we come up with of looking out for one another that don't involve this disproportionate harm against Black, Indigenous, racialized and poor white communities."

Indigenous activist Lori Campbell noted that alternatives to policing could come from Indigenous laws and structures, as was done with the Bear Clan patrol in Winnipeg. 

Police budget necessary, says board chair

Both Chief Bryan Larkin and chair Karen Redman told CBC News they don't think it's possible to cut the current police budget.

"The police board has rigorously reviewed the fact that the budget has gone up fairly significantly, certainly over the last two years, but it was all investment that we felt was necessary," said Karen Redman, who is chair of both the police services board and chair of Waterloo region.

"I don't know that taking funding that is necessary from police services is necessarily the best way to enhance other services."

The 2020 police budget in Waterloo region is roughly $180 million, up from $169 million the year before. That means the average household will spend about $663 on policing in 2020, almost a third of the regional property tax bill.

In the last three years, the police budget has increased by $24.3 million, according to a spokesperson for the region. 

The recent budget uptick was the result of a "perfect storm" of factors, Redman said. These include recruitment, a change to the force's sick-day bank system and overtime costs incurred as a result of a failing voice radio system that required the police force to put two officers in every patrol car. 

Chief open to reassessing police role

Larkin said he would be willing to talk about the role of police in the community and how officers could share more responsibilities.

Right now, he said police services are expected to "be everything to everyone" and respond to any kind of situation, when he'd rather focus on major crimes like organized crime and human trafficking. 

Redman agrees. "People call 911 as a backstop for everything – a police officer in uniform is not always the best person to answer that call, it's just that people don't know where else to turn," she said. 

Right now, Waterloo regional police have a partnership with the local Canadian Mental Health Association to send crisis workers out to mental health related calls, but it does not run overnight.

Other levels of government have to be part of the funding conversation, Larkin said, given that he says it was a "series of political and economic decisions" that have led to the expansive role of police. 

Speaking to CBC Sudbury, a Western University professor said the role of police expanded following provincial cuts to social programs in the 1990s. Bill Irwin said the province could step in to make changes, but doesn't expect that to happen any time soon, given that public finances will likely get even tighter following the pandemic. 

Asked about defunding police last week, Premier Doug Ford said the movement was something he doesn't believe in. 

Going forward

Redman said she, too, wants to be part of a "group discussion" about fighting racism locally and setting up emergency services to better serve the community. 

"Clearly the Black community has risen up and said they don't feel safe. So that obviously needs to be addressed," said Redman. 

Cameron said even if action from elected officials has been slow to start,she thinks more people are interested in learning about what it means to defund police. She said it's an idea that has a long history in Black and Indigenous communities.

"People [are] asking questions, wanting other sources to look at, wanting deeper information on how municipal dollars are spent, wanting to read individuals who have written about these issues in greater depth ... that, in and of itself, is a deeply positive thing," she said.

Meantime, the Waterloo Region District School Board said it has set up meetings to discuss the school resource officer program. 

The June police services board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.