WRPS asks for 60 more officers
Posted Feb 9, 2011 01:21:45 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Waterloo Regional Police is asking for 60 more officers and 18 civilian staff to meet a growing demand for service.
Police Chief Matt Torigian says the 7.8 million dollar plan is required to properly staff their frontline patrol.
“The frontline patrol is severely under-resourced. We’re not able to get to the calls for service in a timely way,” Torigian told 570’s Gary Doyle show today.
Torigian says it takes officers almost a minute longer to get to emergencies today than it did several years ago.
The request for more staff is part of the 119-million dollar police budget for 2011.
That’s about 6 million dollars more than last year’s budget.
Torigian presented the document to the police services board Wednesday morning.
Board chair Tom Galloway says the decision on whether to add the officers and staff will be a balancing act.
“The board has to meld the needs of the service and the community, with the needs of the taxpayer and the taxpayer’s ability to pay.”
In response to requests for expansion in the past, Galloway says the board has decided to approve a portion of the new hires or phase them in over a period of time.
The police budget will be presented to regional council on February 23rd, with a final decision on the proposed expansion expected in March.
