Waterloo regional police budget increase 'hard to swallow,' board hears at first public consultation

Police need to keep in mind the rising cost of living for people in Waterloo region as it crafts its 2024 budget. That's the message the police services board heard from members of the public on Thursday.

The Waterloo Regional Police Services board held its first of two public consultations about the budget. The meeting, held virtually, lasted about 40 minutes with five people speaking to members of the board and the service. 

The Waterloo Regional Police Service has put forward a draft budget of $230.3 million for 2024. That's up from the $214 million that was approved for 2023.

Chief Mark Crowell said earlier this month a large part of that is recruiting new officers and wages.

John Waylett with a group called the Property Taxpayers Alliance said their group supports a strong police force "but at what cost" and questioned what taxpayers can afford.

"Regional property taxpayers are being stressed financially by a combination of inflation, job losses, municipal property tax increases and regional property tax increases rising faster than their incomes year after year," he said.

"The latest Waterloo Regional Police Services and regional spending plans indicate there's no end in sight," he said, adding it's "not sustainable."

He asked the police service to reconsider how many new officers would be hired in 2024 and take it from the proposed 18 new hires to nine.

Harald Drewitz of the Kitchener Tax Watch Group said the taxpayer's ability to pay increasing property taxes is getting more difficult.

"This increase is hard to swallow," he said.

Drewitz also expressed concerns that officers were spending too much time on paperwork and not enough time patrolling. He asked the police service to find ways "to make usage of time of officers more cost effective and efficient."

Trysha Wharton, who spoke on her own behalf as a resident of the region, said she wants to see more emphasis put on addressing people's wellness, particularly as police are called to help people who may be struggling with their mental health, addictions or are experiencing homelessness.

Three emails were also part of the meeting's agenda package. All three people supported increases to the budget, saying there is a need for more officers in the region.

More collaboration

Two of the delegations also spoke to a desire for their organizations to have more of a partnership with police.

Sara Ropp of K-W Habilitation said there can be confusion by officers about the work they do and so she'd like to see better collaboration with the police service.

"We would be willing and open to working together on a training plan for frontline officers on what it is we do as a service," Ropp said.

Zeri Zigeta with the Kinbridge Community Association, which provides various services to people in Cambridge and the region, said they had a good experience this past summer with an officer who would visit some of their youth programs and he'd like to see that happen more often.

He said it "creates a more trusting relationship with our neighbourhoods and the youth that we work with" to see police officers who aren't investigating something or reacting to a complaint.

Next public input session Nov. 6

The 2023 police budget divided regional council earlier this year. In February, councillors were evenly split on whether to sent the budget back to the police board to see if it could be trimmed. The vote ended in an 8-8 tie, meaning the motion to send the budget back for further review failed.

Regional councillors ultimately passed the police budget, along with the regional budget, on Feb. 22.

A second public consultation on the 2024 police budget will take place Nov. 6 in the evening. It will also be held virtually.

The 2024 budget is expected to go back before the police services board at its Nov. 15 meeting. The budget is then expected to go before regional council on Dec. 13.

WATCH | The full Waterloo Regional Police Services board public input session from Thursday: