Efforts to defund Barrie police evidently aren’t going away.
Councillors debated a motion Tuesday night to look at slicing 10 per cent off next year’s allocation of taxpayer dollars for policing.
And although the matter went unresolved, it will be back on the agenda June 7.
“This isn’t about cutting the police budget and walking away. That’s not what the defund the police movement is about. That’s not what this is about,” said Coun. Keenan Aylwin, who introduced the motion.
“This is about investing in our communities so that we prioritize safety and security and then don’t react when an issue arises because of a lack of social supports," he added.
Councillors were considering a motion to cap the 2022 tax-supported budget at a two per cent increase when Aylwin read his amendment.
It’s that the city treasurer send Barrie police services board correspondence requesting it provide a 2022 budget that is a minimum 10 per cent lower than the net municipal funding provided to city police in 2021, as well as a line-by-line accounting of the 2022 budget request.
Staff would also be directed to consult with the ant-racism task force, the affordable housing task force, the County of Simcoe and the broader community, and report back to councillors as part of the 2022 budget process. This would be regarding expenditures that could enhance the resiliency in marginalized communities through the reallocation of the 10 per cent reduction in the police budget, including but not limited to potential investments in community-led alternatives to policing and the criminal justice system, anti-racism education, affordable housing, social and community services, skills training and employment counselling, and food security.
“The reality is the vast majority of the time the police show up after something terrible has occurred, and what this whole conversation is about is about shifting our resources so that instead of reacting to problems as they come up, we’re working to prevent them in the first place,” Aylwin said.
“And the benefit of that is that not only are you creating a healthier, happier, safer or just community, but you’re also saving money… because reactive services are a lot more expensive than proactive services," added the Ward 2 councillor.
Aylwin had tried to defund city police at budget talks earlier this year, but found little support among other councillors.
Coun. Robert Thomson, who sits on the police board along with Mayor Jeff Lehman, says little has changed for him.
“It is exactly the same motion and I’m not going to go into the same conversation,” he said. “We can’t say on a Wednesday night the police service is closed due to a lack of staffing. In what services the police provide would you be willing to go to your constituents?”
Coun. Sergio Morales was of the same mind.
“A social worker isn’t going to be using a radar gun, giving a ticket, sitting on Fairview (Road), sitting on Grove Street, sitting on Livingstone…,” he said.
Coun. Clare Riepma suggested police don’t increase their municipal ask next year, and the two per cent increase instead be spent on more proactive measures.
“The difficulty comes in when we… arbitrarily take 10 per cent away from them (city police). I think that’s disruptive. I don’t think it serves us well,” he said. “I’d prefer us to say let’s put the brakes on that budget and take that increase… and figure out how to spent it and give us a model… in the coming years as well.”
City police asked for and received $57.3 million in municipal funding this year, a 2.65 per cent or $1.48-million increase from 2020.
The Barrie Police Service has 244 officers and 118 civilians whose salaries and benefits take up 95.7 per cent of the police budget, and its 2021 budget includes no new hirings.
“We know that the police budget is the single biggest line item of our budget every year and we should look at re-investing that in prevention, rather than reactive services,” Aylwin said.
Police calls for service are roughly 20 per cent criminal and 80 per cent non-criminal, 60 per cent non-emergency and 40 per cent emergency.
No action was taken on Aylwin’s motion Tuesday night to defund the police and spend that money elsewhere.
No councillor moved a motion to extend the meeting past the 11 p.m. curfew, adjourning the meeting. Matters on the agenda are automatically deferred to next regular general committee meeting on June 7.
