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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Police service looks for help to improve its efficiency

By: Bartley Kives

Posted: 08/28/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

THE City of Winnipeg is looking for outside help to find ways to make the Winnipeg Police Service more efficient.

On Monday, the city issued a request for proposals to conduct an operational review of the police service, whose 2012 budget calls for $220 million in spending -- a figure equivalent to nearly a quarter of Winnipeg's operating budget this year.

The review will look at staffing, overtime, call management, fleet management, the use of statistics and the overall organization of the police service as part of an effort to see the police service deliver better value for the money it spends, Winnipeg chief financial officer Mike Ruta said in a fact sheet prepared for city councillors.

"We believe the department is well-managed and operated," Ruta said in the fact sheet. "We also believe there will be value in an external review to determine if there are more efficient ways of delivering these important services to assure taxpayers receive services with the best value."

The review is not intended to be a prelude to contracting out city services, he added.

The idea for the review came out of a strategic planning session that involved all members of council early this year, said Charleswood-Tuxedo Coun. Paula Havixbeck, who chairs council's protection and community services committee, which is responsible for the police service.

Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto have held similar reviews, she noted. "It can be done," she said.

Getting better value for money out of the police service has been a goal for Mayor Sam Katz since 2007, when he convinced council to create the Winnipeg Police Advisory Board, whose primary task was to examine efficiency.

But the advisory board was dissolved two years later after the province announced its intention to create a formal commission to oversee the Winnipeg Police Service. The province has since dragged its feet at getting a police commission off the ground.

The operational review would also be in place in time to assist Winnipeg's next police chief. The city request for proposals calls for an outside firm to be selected in October and preliminary findings to be presented in late November, mere weeks before outgoing police chief Keith McCaskill's retirement in December.

A final operational review would come to council later on, possibly in 2013.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 28, 2012 A6

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