Service cuts proposed in police budget
Posted Jan 9, 2012 05:13:06 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The first draft of the 2012/2013 Halifax Regional Police budget was explained as an exercise in aggressive expenditure management that doesn’t impact services.
The force was told the budget had to come in at the $71 million budget figure from 2011/2012.
HRP projected a budget of around $74 million was needed to maintain the status quo.
A budget was presented at Monday’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting that got to the number they need, but in order to get there, some cuts were proposed.
Six service cuts have been suggest including getting rid of the bike patrol, the mounted unit, the downtown surveillance cameras, the Lake Banook/Mic Mac Lake patrol, the East Dartmouth Community Centre Office and an annual contribution to Crime Stoppers.
That amounts to just $163,900 in savings, with the rest of the $2 million coming from increased revenue on things like background checks, and decreases in building, supply and equipment costs.
“It’s going to be a lean budget, its going to be a budget that’s going to take a lot of attention throughout the year and we’ll have to be at the top of our game in managing this budget,” said Police Chief Frank Beazley. “The choices I made were things that I consider not to be the core part of what I do like patrol, officers, different types of investigative practices. They were nice to have, if I had the ability to have them.”
He says the force will be able to maintain the same level of policing, but adds he won’t be able to do some of the extra things that engaged the community in the past.
