OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Police Service is pausing officer recruitment for growth hires within the services until the December class at the Ontario Police College as it deals with budget constraints.
Meantime, the service will also hire fewer officers than expected this year to meet staffing needs.
The 2021 sworn staffing forecasts identified the need to hire 44 new officers in 2021 to grow the service and cover off officers retiring or leaving the service.
A report for Monday's Ottawa Police Services Board meeting shows police now need to hire 28 officers this year, due to a "lower than expected number of retirements as well as the civilianization of five sworn positions."
Police have currently paused "recruitment for new hires" this year due to budget constraints and in anticipation of directions for the 2022 police budget. In July, staff will present three budget scenarios with a spending freeze, a 1.5 per cent increase and a three per cent increase.
Ottawa police currently have no recruits at the Ontario Police College for the May Basic Constable Class, and hiring will be paused for the September class as well.
The report does warn that if hiring doesn't resume until December's class, it would pose a "significant risk" to the service since those officers wouldn't be ready for independent patrol duties until May 2022. Police say it takes a new recruit nine months, on average, to become deployable.
The staffing forecast for June indicates there will be 13 Sergeant vacancies and 35 Constable vacancies within the organization.
A separate report for the Ottawa Police Services Board shows the delay in hiring of the growth-related positions will save the service $900,000 this year.
