Two months after the last Guelph Police Services Board meeting, and two weeks later than it was supposed to take place, we finally gather to talk about the biggest part of police board business and the source of much controversy: the police budget. The numbers will be laid out for everyone at this meeting, and that means both the future budget and the status of the current one. In other news, we’ll find out how things are going downtown?
NOTE: This meeting takes place virtually at 2:30 pm but it will be broadcast on Guelph Police’s YouTube page.
PRESENTATIONS/DELEGATIONS:
There’s one delegation at this meeting, and it’s Barb Minett, the co-founder of the Bookshelf. She’s apparently going to talk about safety concerns downtown.
Human Resources Report: Member Appointments – There seems to have been something of a hiring spree since the last board meeting in July so the new appointments are probably too numerous to list individually here. (You can see the full list starting on page 9 of the agenda.)
Board Correspondence Report – There’s also been a lot of mail in the last few months. Correspondences have come into the board from the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington, the Shelldale Family Gateway, and the Canadian Association of Police Governance. Also, they received the fall newsletter from Crime Stoppers.
Calls for Service Semi-Annual Report Information (January to June 2022 and 2023) – When compared to the same period in 2022, there was a 21 per cent increase in the number of calls for service between January and June this year. There was an increase in calls in almost all priority areas, including a 120 per cent increase in the number of robberies reported, which is a “Priority 1” type call and that area also includes calls about offensive weapons and disturbances.
Priority 1 calls increased by 13.2 per cent overall from 2022 to 2023. There was a 183.1 per cent increase in breach of judicial order calls (Priority 3), and a 169.3 per cent increase in community contacts, directed patrol and school resource initiatives (Priority 8) to cover the larger bases. The one decrease? There was a 2.2 per cent decrease in the number of calls to the Collision Reporting Centre (Priority 6).
Budget (Capital & Operating) Q2 Report – Before getting into next year’s budget, we must review where things sit with this year’s budget. As of the end of June, the operating budget was at 48.8 per cent of the year-to-date (YTD), which is pretty much on target but it is coming at a cost because the positive variance in operating is based on a service that is not up to its full strength. Having said that, it’s of some concern that overtime is now past 60 per cent of the YTD. The Service is forecasting no variance for the end of 2023. As for capital, most of the $2.2 million is dedicated to IT upgrades, and there have been some small surpluses in the areas of hardware, body armour and furniture procurement that will all be reinvested.
Downtown Supplemental Staffing: Special Initiative – The board will be provided with an update about the additional officers on patrol downtown for information. The project concluded on August 31. Results? There were 542 calls for unwanted persons or trespassing, 332 calls for assistance, 194 calls for theft and 70 calls for mental health assistance. There were 248 total arrests during the length of the program plus 483 Criminal Code charges, 190 Provincial offence charges, and 39 controlled drugs and substances charges.
Police also used the time to do a survey of downtown residents and businesses and nearly 77 per cent noticed the increased police presence, 42 per cent felt the increased presence had an increased perception of safety downtown, and nearly 71 per cent supported ongoing funding for the extra police. These results were based on 231 responses received.
2024-2033 Capital Budget Forecast & 2023 Budget Additions – In order to rein in some of the exploding costs across all service areas, City of Guelph staff asked the Police Service to review their 10-year capital forecast and exercise some additional fiscal prudence. A number of projects were moved outside of the forecast, some inflationary assumptions were adjusted, and the Police were successful in securing a grant to cover the capital costs of the CCTV project.
The savings equal $26.4 million over the next 10 years when compared to the initial budget presented in July. The $14.3 million upgrades to the fourth floor are among the postponed items, as is the request to hire an alternative fuels consultant and the request to build a new firing range, but there is a $200,000 request to bring the current firing range up to current health and safety standards. Mostly, the capital budget now focused on the lifecycle replacement of equipment, vehicles and other supplies
2023-2027 Operating Budget – Obviously, the other part of the budget is operating, and for 2024 the Service is looking for a $2.77 million, or 4.84 per cent increase, over 2023. The operating budget actually goes up each year of the multiyear budget with $3.76 million (6.13 per cent) in 2025, $3.51 million (5.28 per cent) in 2026 and $3.39 million (4.79 per cent) in 2027. A lot of these increases are being driven by the addition of new full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, especially starting in 2025; the size of the Service will increase from 342.95 FTEs in 2023 to 374.95 in 2027. Much of the rest of the budget increases are based on impacts from capital costs, increases to WSIB and long-term disability costs, and increased costs of purchased goods and services not covered under capital.
Chief’s Monthly Report – As usual, Guelph Police Services Chief Gord Cobey will deliver a verbal report about the latest goings on at 15 Wyndham Street South.
Guelph Politico 