Medicine Hat Police Services was identified in a KPMG report as having a budget per capita that is $46 more than the average of nine other similar cities.--NEWS PHOTO
The cost per capita of the Medicine Hat Police Service is $46 more than the average of similar-sized cities, according to a KPMG report on the Lethbridge Police Service.
A KPMG report compared nine cities across the country showed costs in Lethbridge were the highest per capita at $388, followed by Medicine Hat at $380.
The average for nine cities in the report the average is $326.
MHPS chief Mike Worden told the News on Wednesday that it is unclear what unique aspects apply to each of the nine comparisons. He says some aspects of police service can differ from city to city and that can skew the comparison.
According to the new chief, the 2020/2021 budget for MHPS was reduced by close to $1 million.
“That was some efficiency work that occurred late last year,” said Worden, who assumed the position in Medicine Hat about a month ago.
He is working on a “service delivery review,” which could take a year to complete, to see if there are opportunities for efficiencies. This will include determining the ideal number of police officers while ensuring efficient, effective services to ensure community safety.
Worden suggests there could be a budget reduction in the future.
The KPMG report for Lethbridge made suggestions for reducing the costs for that city, including staggering shift times and giving more duties to community peace officers. It was also suggested that some positions within the police department could be handled by civilians, which would free up about 13 police officers to take on other key policing duties. KPMG estimated savings could be $1.6 million over four years. The civilian positions could include people at the front desk or in forensics identification.
Worden says these aspects are being looked at for Medicine Hat. The salary cost of a police officer may not be significantly different from that of a civilian but the total compensation that includes training for officers can be significant.
Sending an officer to the police college in Ottawa for forensics training could take 10-13 weeks initially, he said. That training would then have to be updated regularly. If a new officer is appointed to that position they go through the same training.
Worden says a civilian hired on a contract basis for forensics would come with that training and could be required to update their training at their own expense.
That being said, he sounds a word of caution about filling so many roles with civilians. You don’t want to have no positions left for an officer who needs to be placed on administration leave for a variety of reasons such as a medical issue.
“We need to provide them with relative work to keep them working until they are capable and able to return to their regular position,” said Worden.
