Owen Sound Police Chief Tom Kaye says the police service has been exonerated by a financial review which was presented on Monday night to city council.
The review, prepared and presented by consultants Michael Mitchell and Moe Hodgson, describes the level of policing provided by the service as “exemplary” and “exceptional” and says the service itself is well managed.
The consultants looked at the service’s workload and financial data over a 10-year period starting in 2000.
They say most of the initiatives that could reduce costs have already been put into place.
Kaye says that refutes suggestions made last year, particularly during the municipal election campaign, that policing costs were out of control.
Council unanimously passed a motion last July asking the police services board to look at their operations and find ways to cut costs.
At the time, Councillor David Adair noted that policing accounts for more than 25 per cent of the overall city budget.
The annual cost hikes for policing, mainly due to wages and benefits, are also going up faster than increases in every other city department.
But the review says the only way to achieve significant long-term cost reductions now is through a reduction in the number of front-line police officers.
And Kaye points out that the first eight positions that would be lost are partially or totally funded through provincial or federal government grants, which means their financial impacts on the city are minimal.
The police could also save money by drastically reducing the level of service they provide – closing the station at 4:30 each afternoon, pulling officers off the streets and forcing them into the office to type their own reports, declining to respond to all incidents and calls for help – but Kaye says he doubts the public would accept that.
If the public does want that, though, he’ll be interested to hear from them as the police services board prepares for business planning sessions that will allow for community input.
Kaye and board chair Garth Pierce say the board as a whole will consider the review as part of its budget deliberations, which will eventually come before council.
