Today, Chief Manak presented the 2018 VicPD 2018 Provisional Budget to a joint session of the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board as well as the Victoria and Esquimalt Councils.
The 2018 provisional budget includes an increase to the core budget of $1,321,942 or 2.52%. It also includes $253,898 for the 2nd of a 2 year pilot to expand Mental Health Integration through the (Assertive Community Treatment) ACT team.
The financial impacts of these additions are:
1: Increases to staffing in order to keep up with growth within our jurisdiction for a cost of $870,000 or 1.66%;
2: An increase to the special events funding of $160,000 or 0.31%;
3: Participation costs to have access to Real Time Intelligence for $143,668 or 0.27 %.
This budget has used a growth strategy which is a 10 year review of growth factors in the region. It looked at multiple factors, including population, calls for service, development, tourism, traffic, homeless counts. Most of these factors indicate both steady growth and increasing demand for police services, recognizing that the growth and needs of each community are different.
The attached chart demonstrates some of the factors we looked at as part of the Growth Strategy.
We’re requesting an increase of 6 officers and 2 civilian staff for the 2018 budget.
In order to continue to provide adequate policing we need adequate staffing levels.
“We face a simple decision. Either we add the resources we need or we need to cut other, valuable but less urgent services so to allocate the necessary resources to the front line,” Chief Del Manak said.
Each year the Department provides policing services to protect the public for a significant amount of public events.
We currently have a budget of $40,000 to meet our non-recoverable expenditures. Over the years the actual cost to the department for these events has increased steadily. The actual cost to support these events is now $200,000 per year. Esquimalt represents approximately 15% of these costs.
Half of this $200,000 represents the cost to provide public safety for Canada Day alone, but it also includes other events such as Victoria Day, military parades, etc.
The additional $160,000 would therefore provide stable funding to allow us to continue to provide this valuable service to keep the public safe for these important community events without putting the burden on community groups.
There is also a request for $143, 688 for our participation in the Real Time Intelligence Center.
The goal is to provide real-time intelligence in a timely manner to help officers solve crimes in that crucial 48 hour window after a crime has been committed. Similar operations in the US saw reductions of 30% in total serious crime, 20% in violent crime.
Chief Constable Manak will present the budget to both Victoria and Esquimalt Councils in the coming months.
Read the detailed report that was the foundation for the presentation.