Finance Committee green lights Watch Program, other LPS asks, as budget deliberations roll along

Since the initiative has been approved, the same pool of applicants will be used to fill 15 CPO/SPC positions.

Finance Committee then unanimously supported the Lethbridge Police’s request on the Ambassador Watch program, which has drawn support from Downtown BRZ and the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce.

The Watch Program will be funded through taxation, at $554,272 in 2019 and $601,722 in 2020.

After two years, LPS will report back to Police Commission and City Council about the effectiveness of the program.

Chief Rob Davis says he’s very excited about the programs receiving approval.

“The Mayor challenged us to come back with innovative solutions and be efficient and effective. We put forward two we believe are going to be successful, and I’m very happy with the council’s decision at this time. It’s not final, but it’s a good indication, and now the work begins,” Davis said.

By putting these two programs into place it frees up the fully trained officers to do their jobs according to Davis, who added this is an enhanced model of public safety.

In Year One of the Watch program, the initial 12 volunteers will be recruited and begin training on requisite areas in the winter of 2018 and spring of 2019.

A civilian manager will then be recruited to oversee training, records, scheduling, deployment, and liaise with the DPU sergeant. The deployment of volunteers will then begin in the summer of 2019.

In Year Two, they will expand by an additional 12 volunteers, bringing the total to 24, and then work to recruit and increase the compliment to 36 volunteers by the end of the year.

With a report due back after that year, Davis has no concerns about the accountability part of the deal.

“That’s completely fair especially in the economic climate that we exist in today,” he continued. “As I was saying to Chair [Peter] Deys, I actually really like that because it builds in an accountability for the men and women who are going to occupy those positions that basically they’re going to have to demonstrate their value to the community.”

Davis also touched on what it meant to have the support of Downtown BRZ and the Chamber.

“It was incredible, and I really have to acknowledge those organizations for throwing their support behind this. They’ve embraced it from the start and I really appreciated that and look forward to collaborating with them as we move forward.”

Finance Committee also approved one more police driven initiative, N-40 which would fund the Police and Crisis Team or PACT pilot project over four years. The pilot project began in Nov. 2017 focusing on mental health in the community and working in a strong partnership with Alberta Health Services.

It was staffed out of the Downtown Policing Unit, with one DPU member dedicated to the PACT partnership, which took him aware from his duties downtown. $124,000 in 2019, $127,300 in 2020, $130,700 in 2021, and $134,400 in 2022 will help fund dedicated PACT members working in a full-time capacity.

Finance Committee Chair Ryan Parker says he’s glad that they dealt with the police budget right off the bat.

“Safety is the biggest issue facing our community, even if things are going good safety is still the number one priority in the community. These are some big initiatives, some big asks, and they’re probably going to have the biggest impact on the operating budget for the City of Lethbridge for not only this year but the next four years. “If taxes do go up and the cause and effect is because we need more police service out there, most people I’ve spoken to in my last 20 years that I’ve been on council say that’s the first-place tax dollars should go towards,” Parker stated.

He referenced decisions made by other levels of government, like establishing the supervised consumption site in the city, as something that’s had an impact that needed to be addressed.

“Even though there’s good intentions, there’s some consequences to that and the issue of safety has become more paramount than ever,” Parker continued. “If we can do something to address those issues, while we address the opioid crisis in our community, it’s almost like you can’t say no.”As far as accountability is concerned, Parker says they’ve heard it loud and clear not only from businesses but every person who lives in this community that feels safety is still the number one priority.

“When they hear stories about some of the things that are occurring in our community, specifically in certain areas within our city, we’re the ones that have to write the cheque to the police service. If we don’t write the cheque, who will?”

The decision on the Watch program only getting funding for two years, and then having to report to Police Commission, is a good one according to Parker.

“The Police Commission is a separate body and we’ve always had a very good relationship with it, but I think having that accountability where they report back to show what’s occurring and what the measurables are [is important]. Then when we report back to the community, they go wow good things are happening or at least they know where the money is being spent and how successful it’s been,” Parker said.

While the three resolutions were adopted by the Finance Committee, seven other initiative asks from police around things like cybersecurity, and extra positions around professional standards and evidenced-based policing among others were defeated.

Deliberations will continue on the operating budget throughout the week, and once a recommended 2019-2022 Operating Budget is approved it is expected to come before City Council on Nov. 26 for formal approval.

by Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Finance Committee green lights Watch Program, other LPS asks, as budget deliberations roll along

What's Happening