Mayor concerned about police funding increases; chief says change requires funding
With a $12 million proposed increase to the Edmonton Police Service's budget next year, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi says nearly 22 cents of every tax dollar collected goes to the service.
For the last three years, the police budget has increased while other departments and programs needed to adjust to less funding. Sohi believes that is a problem, but the police chief argues additional funding is necessary so changes the community asked for can be brought forward.
The annual increase to the police service was approved by city council in 2018, as the city planned its four-year operating budget cycle.
Back then, EPS was set to receive a funding bump of $18.2 million in 2021 and another $17.4 million in 2022.
Over the summer of 2020, council held multiple public hearings on the level of funding police receive and violence. In the end, council decided to stop $11 million in funding over two years.
The proposed annual operating budget for the EPS would be about $395.8 million next year.
"Police is not getting less, and police never got less money, even in 2021, police got more money than any of the other civic departments," Sohi said.
FUNDING REQUIRED TO MAKE CHANGE
EPS Chief Dale McFee says those hearings inspired a shift in how the department conducts policing.
"This is the kind of police work the community has asked for and receives with the kind of investment they and you make in EPS," McFee said. "New ideas, innovative approach, and better human-centred solutions."
McFee asked council to honour the initially planned increase for next year, then look at cuts from 2023 onward.
"Stopping midstream has the ability to undo everything we've done and go in the other direction," he added. "This city can't afford to go in the other direction anymore."
The police chief added that more than 30 different initiatives have been started since last summer's hearings to ensure the service adapts.
"I'm here telling you if we take any more losses, the next question is what gets delayed or what gets stopped entirely," McFee said.
"We've lost a lot of our flexibility, and now if we have to go further, we have to look at some service delivery changes."
HOW BEST TO TACKLE SOCIAL ISSUES?
Sohi says he is concerned that almost 22 cents of every taxpayer dollar are going solely to police.
"If policing costs continue to rise as they've been over the last few years, we will not be able to fund other very important functions in the city," the mayor said.
"We do have serious challenges. I just cannot justify telling other areas of the city that they continue to take a cut."
Trent Daley is a member of the city's anti-racism advisory committee and believes council should give grants to groups on the ground connecting and helping communities in Edmonton.
"They are a greater asset to community safety than any EPS initiative attempting to copy or reinvent the wheel," Daley said.
"Community safety isn't framed on whether things are hard or easy for EPS," he added. "Community safety is framed around whether things are safe for our community. For the people in this community."
Sohi believes EPS is making positive changes and that crime, addiction, and poverty are serious issues.
"(But) are policing resources the best way to tackle those issues," Sohi asked. "Or should we be investing in preventative services?"
During the EPS budget presentation on Wednesday, McFee complimented Sohi for speaking to stakeholders about community safety issues.
When reached for clarification about what McFee meant, Sohi's communications manager Lindsay Harvey told CTV News Edmonton that the chief referred to meetings with several provincial cabinet ministers that were "proactive" and built "collaborative working relationships."
"In these discussions, the topics of community safety and tackling issues of homelessness, mental health and addiction were addressed," Harvey said. "They also discussed how they impact safety as well as the cost of policing, the justice system, and healthcare."
Council will start voting on proposed changes to EPS funding and the city's operating budget on Friday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.