Winnipeg police to seek savings on vacancy management

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This article was published 08/12/2020 (1997 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Police Service expects vacant positions and reduced overtime will help it save millions of dollars next year.

WPS Chief Danny Smyth offered some details Tuesday on how the department plans to find $5.1 million of savings in each of the next three years — a target it was directed to meet by the city’s preliminary 2021 budget.

“In 2021, we’ll lean heavily towards vacancy management and overtime savings,” Smyth told reporters.

The police chief said there was an increase in retirements in 2020. Vacancy management savings arise when employees leave an organization, such as by quitting or retiring, which cuts costs until a replacement is hired.

The budget requires police to find $15.3 million of total savings to cover half of a $30.7-million shortfall created by a now-abandoned City of Winnipeg plan to cut police pension costs. The city backed off that goal after an arbitrator ruled the unilateral changes would breach collective agreements.

On Tuesday, council’s finance committee approved a nearly $3-million 2020 budget overrun for WPS, also blamed on the unrealized pension savings.

Smyth expected no longer-term reduction in the number of officer positions.

“It could (lead to) shortages, at least at different times depending on the demands for services as we fill our retirements, but it’s not a complement cut per se, at least not at this point,” he said.

Meanwhile, Smyth warned new capital and operating costs are expected in 2021 and 2022, linked to a requirement that ended the practice of holding new arrestees at the Winnipeg Remand Centre.

Suspects must now see a judge or judicial justice of the peace remotely before they can be moved into remand. The change was imposed in April and became permanent in June, and requires police to hold people for longer periods, Smyth said.

It has created a need to build more washrooms, add some form of meal delivery, and devote more staff hours to ensure appropriate conditions for prisoners, he said.

“We’ll be making some adaptations to our facility so that we can more safely move prisoners and afford them the dignity of washrooms and things like that. We were never intended to hold prisoners for very long,” said Smyth, adding details of the cost will become clearer in early 2021.

In September, the province committed $3.5 million to fund WPS central processing unit updates, which police expect would support those changes.

In a statement, Justice Minister Cliff Cullen said the previous practice raised legal concerns and was a national anomaly: “All other provinces and territories in Canada require judicial order prior to admission to provincial custody.”

Despite the cost-cutting mandate, the overall WPS budget will increase next year, rising to $301 million in 2021, from $294 million in 2020.

Advocates who’ve pushed the city to reduce its police budget are not impressed.

Joe Curnow, a member of community group Budget for All, said the city should spend less on law enforcement and invest more money on public transportation, recreation, and other “quality-of-life” services.

“Budget for All is absolutely appalled by this budget because it continues to show that city council is not listening. Citizens have been extremely clear that we want less investment in cops and concrete, and more investment in life-sustaining services,” said Curnow.

WPS is expected to reveal further budget details Thursday.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga