Ottawa police warn 2.9 per cent increase in funding won't cover 'some strategic initiatives' in 2025

Ottawa Police headquarters on Elgin St. is seen in this undated photo. (CTV News Ottawa)

The 2025 Ottawa Police Service's budget will include a new Mounted Patrol Unit and the creation of a Parliamentary Precinct, but staff warn there will not be enough funding for "some strategic initiatives," including body cameras for officers, as the service faces several challenges.

The Ottawa Police Service's Board's Finance and Audit Committee will discuss the directions for the 2025 budget on Friday.

Council has directed the service to draft the 2025 budget with a 2.9 per cent increase, along with a 1.5 per cent increase in taxes from growth in the assessment base. A 2.9 per cent increase from the property tax bill would provide police with $15.3 million in new funding next year.

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"While the service is prioritizing the improvement of service delivery to the citizens of Ottawa through modernization projects, it is also conscious of the need to manage and control the cost curve in delivering policing services," the report says.

"A balance between modernization while addressing financial realities will be achieved through a combination of service improvements, efficiency exercises and delaying the commencement of some initiatives."

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A report by Chief Eric Stubbs says the budget will ensure that many of the service's "challenges can be wholly or partially addressed" in 2025, noting police have experienced an increase in calls for service, rising crime rates, a spike in overtime costs, and "operational demands are also on the rise" with more demonstrations and events.

"Perhaps the biggest challenge impacting the 2025 Budget are inflationary costs," Stubbs said, noting contract talks are set for next year with the Ottawa Police Association and the Senior Officers Association.

Stubbs says the 2025 budget will include funding to stabilize staffing and address critical staffing gaps in frontline, traffic enforcement, intimate partner violence and fraud sections. The service is looking to hire 145 new sworn members in 2024, 2025 and 2026 to expand the ranks and account for attrition.

There will also be money in the budget for initiatives focused on community safety in the ByWard Market, Alternative Mental Health Support, the Safer Streets initiative, a new Mounted Patrol Unit and the creation of an Ottawa Police Parliamentary Precinct to patrol the Parliament Hill area.

The chief says the 2.9 per cent increase in the tax rate and a growth assessment increase of 1.5 per cent provides the "current investment" required to "provide a modern police service that is adequately staff, begin to address service delivery challenges and solve crime and proceed with the District model."

"Unfortunately, the budget does not fully address some significant short and longer-term financial and operational risks and does not fund some strategic initiatives," Stubbs says, adding police are working with city staff to use "other funding levers to address pressures."

The service is delaying the rollout of body cameras for officers until 2026, "at the earliest."

The chief warns the modernization of the Community Safety and Policing Act will have a major impact on operations, training and back-office budget, while the "continued reliance" on overtime and temporary assistance from other police services has the service facing "financial risk."

The Ottawa Police Service received $17.7 million from the Ontario government for initiative-directed funding primarily in the ByWard Market, and a five-year, $50 million funding agreement from the federal government to boost security around Parliament Hill.

Stubbs says staff have "committed to conducting significant efficiency exercises" in 2025 to help managing the "cost curve of policing," including finding efficiencies in fleet maintenance, reviewing the use of overtime, travel and evaluating the span of control.

"A new initiative to civilianize some police functions and increase the role of special constables will also begin in 2025," Stubbs says. "This will reduce the reliance on sworn officers, ensuring that these officers can focus their efforts on policing duties only, and will result in some cost savings."

The Ottawa Police Services Board will receive the 2025 draft budget on November 13, with final approval scheduled for Nov. 25. Council will have final say on the draft budget on Dec. 11.