Police OT $2.1 million under budget last year

Winnipeg Police Service ended last year with a $1.7-million surplus, as a reduced number of homicides and several other factors helped cut overtime costs.

A WPS financial report notes overtime costs came in $2.1 million under budget in 2025.

“Overtime is regularly used to meet the demand for service and use of overtime is dependent on the number of homicides, major critical incidents, traffic fatalities, special events, protests and demonstrations and overall volume of violent crime,” the report states.

The total WPS budget was $352 million last year.

A “significantly lower” number of homicides than the previous year played a key role in the overtime savings, the report notes. There were 22 people slain in Winnipeg last year, down from 41 in 2024.

“A reduction in homicides from the prior year results in less investigative and operational costs,” the report states.

WPS also managed to meet a city council direction to save $5 million during 2025, due to savings on salaries, overtime, fuel and the photo enforcement contract, while revenues also rose.

Winnipeg Police Service did not grant an interview request and said questions on the budget report won’t be answered until Friday’s Winnipeg Police Board meeting.

The executive director of the Winnipeg Police Board, which oversees WPS, said the surplus reflects financial diligence.

“We understand there’s been a concerted effort… to really make sure those costs are kept in check whenever possible,” said Jeff Wiggett.

He said the reduced number of homicides last year would have made overtime easier to control.

“Those incidents typically demand a significant amount of resources and hours worked,” he said.

In 2024, police overtime expenses were $800,000 over budget, due to a high number of calls for service and many public protests, he said.

A city council requirement that police find millions of dollars in savings adds a challenge to balancing their budget, said Wiggett, noting WPS is expected to save $7 million by the end of 2026.

Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Police Board may soon receive an update on a pilot project for body-worn cameras. In another report, Chief Gene Bowers notes recent technology updates for the police database and evidence gathering are providing a foundation that “will allow the Winnipeg Police Service to fully leverage our body-worn camera pilot project (2026).”

Bowers told media in December that he’d like to see a pilot project with officer-worn cameras this year.

Wiggett said he couldn’t share further details about the pilot project.

“We’ll let the chief speak to it at the (police board) meeting,” he said.

The head of the union that represents Winnipeg police officers said his association doesn’t oppose body-worn cameras.

“We believe that this would likely assist… officers in allegations that are occasionally brought forward against them,” Cory Wiles, president of the Winnipeg Police Association, said in an email.

Wiles said the union will pay close attention to the cost of adding the technology, which WPS previously estimated could cost millions to implement.

“Our questions have always surrounded whether millions of dollars being allocated for the startup, storage and maintenance over the next 20 years could better serve the public by hiring extra resources instead. Call volumes are high, response times are challenged, and members are burnt out,” he wrote.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga