The Regina Police Service (RPS) had its 2022 Operating Budget approved by city council.
The 2022 budget for RPS will have a net operating budget of over $92 million. This will include over $103 million in gross operating expenditures and $10 million in anticipated revenues.
The budget is over $3.5 million or a four per cent increase from the 2021 budget.
| 2021 Budget | 2022 Budget | Dollar Change | |
| Revenue Budget | |||
| Provincial Programs | $7,546,200 | $8,200,900 | +$654,700 |
| Federal Programs | $146,900 | $151,500 | +$4,600 |
| Other Programs | $2,624,500 | $2,546,200 | -$78,300 |
| $10,317,600 | $10,898,600 | +$581,800 | |
| Gross Operating Budget | |||
| Salary/Budget Costs | $87,563,200 | $90,742,100 | +$3,178,900 |
| Operational Expenses | $11,999,500 | $12,953,200 | +$953,700 |
| $99,562,700 | $103,695,300 | +$4,132,600 | |
| Net Operating Budget | $89,245,100 | $92,796,700 | +$3,551,600 |
Bray said that one of his highlights is the growth of the police service.
“Our community is a busy growing community, and being able to work on this growth plan is significant,” he said. “Having 16 new police officers, that’s one of the biggest pieces of growth in terms of police personal that we’ve seen in a couple of decades in one year, and I am really proud of that.”
“I think it’s steps in the right direction,” he continued. “It’s going to go a long way to not only help us in how we respond to crime but helping those frontline officers in our organization that are really facing high workloads and a lot of stress, and we are hoping that this is going to make some positives steps forward in managing that as well.”
Mayor Sandra Masters said having more officers on the ground will make the City safer.
“I think outfitting our police service with the appropriate amount of patrol or a more appropriate amount of patrol officers who are responding to the large volume of calls that citizens are putting into them is good for the community,” she said. “If they have additional ability to not just respond to those priority one, priority two, but get to the priority three, priority four.”
“It helps with people’s feelings when they are victimized but also helps the RPS build better relationships with all members of the community, which is good. That is what community policing is all about,” she added.
The increase in staffing, includes one deputy chief, 16 full-time police positions, and seven civilian positions. Currently, there are 634 permanent employees and 14.8 casual full-time employees. The new staffing positions are set to cost $2,216,100.
Other highlights include:
- $275,000 to increase related operation for an Aerial Support Unit
- $209,400 increase for Crime Reduction Team operating expenses
- $155,900 increase related to rent, leases, and operating costs of facilities
- $133,100 increase related to IT hardware, software, fleet parts and maintenance, recruiting
- $117,900 increase related to patrol cell phones (phase two implementation)
- $98,000 increase related to advancing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Truth & Reconciliation, strategic research and board consulting.
Highlights from the Revenue Budget include:
- An increase of $496,000 for the Crime Reduction Team
- Revenue increase of $48,700 from the provincial government for contract increases to Internet Child Exploitation, 11 and Under Initiative, Sask 911 PSAP, Saskatchewan Police Commission, and Victim Services
- Revenue increase of $31,700 related to traffic safety and red light camera initiatives
- Revenue increase from the federal government for the NWEST (National Weapons Enforcement Support Team) Secondment of $4,600
