The Regina Police Service (RPS) had its net operating budget for 2023 and 2024 approved by Regina’s city council.
For 2023, the RPS will have a net operating budget of $98.1 million, including over $110 million in gross operating expenditures and $11.9 million in anticipated revenues.
For 2024, the budget was received and filled, meaning council will vote on it come next year. If approved as is, the RPS will have a net operating budget of $103.8 million. That includes $115.5 million in expenditures and $11.7 in revenue.
The 2023 budget is a $5.3 million or 5.7 per cent increase compared to 2022 with 2024 increasing another 5.8 per cent or $5.6 million compared to 2023.
| 2022 Budget | 2023 Budget | 2024 Budget | |||
| Revenue | |||||
| Provincial Programs | $8,200,900 | $8,852,100 | +$651,200 | $8,617,200 | -$234,900 |
| Federal Programs | $151,500 | $155,700 | +$4,200 | $158,800 | +$3,100 |
| Other Programs | $2,546,200 | $2,957,600 | +$411,400 | $2,971,500 | +$13,900 |
| $10,898,600 | $11,965,400 | +$1,066,800 | $11,747,500 | -$217,900 | |
| Gross Operating | |||||
| Salary/Budget Costs | $90,742,100 | $95,374,700 | +$4,632,600 | $100,891,200 | +$5,516,500 |
| Operational Expenses | $12,953,200 | $14,713,900 | +$1,760,700 | $14,677,000 | -$36,900 |
| $103,695,300 | $110,088,600 | +$6,393,300 | $115,568,200 | +$5,479,600 | |
| Net Operating Budget | $92,796,700 | $98,123,200 | +$5,326,500 | $103,820,700 | +$5,697,500 |
The Regina Police Service budget had a focus on growth and taking care of officers’ mental health.
Regina Police Chief Evan Bray said the combination of growth and increased mental health would make the city safer.
“We know that there are lots of challenges in policing, both from a mental and physical health perspective. This budget request will also be able to give us an opportunity to dig into that and keep our members healthy, which in turn, will help with the service requests that we get from the community.”
“Really, it is about trying to get our resources to the level that they match the requests that we get from the public,” Bray continued. “It’s about being able to match the service levels that our community is asking and at the same time ensure that we are keeping our staff as safe and healthy as possible.”
Bray added the highlight of the budget is the continued growth of the police force.
“Back in 2020, we had put forward a growth plan, and that plan was to get our number of officers where we match essentially the size of our community, the complexity of our community, and the needs of the community. This growth plan in these next two years will now be completed in terms of sworn police officers.”
RPS will increase its police staffing levels by 21 in 2023 and 12 in 2024. There will also be an increase of eight more positions being added in 2023 and one in 2024.
He said another highlight is the safeguard program for their frontline officers.
“That will be regular check-ins with a physiologist. We know that occupational stress injuries and mental health is a real challenge in emergency services, but specifically in policing,” he said. “The ability for us to do an even better job of caring for the needs of our members will not only help those individuals police officers and their families but will go a great way in enhancing the level of service delivery that we are able to provide to the community.”
