Hamilton police seek 3.94 per cent hike to add 13 officers

Hamilton police hope to add 13 officers to the service through a 3.94 per cent budget hike in 2022.

That added complement is necessary to help the front line keep up with increasing calls for a service that has 855 officers, Chief Frank Bergen says.

We're asking just to maintain the status quo under the acknowledgement that we are below where we should be," Bergen told council during a budget pitch Thursday.

At 410,087 last year, calls to police have increased by 8.1 per cent over five years, with 911 calls at 219,813 last year, nearing a 13 per cent hike over the same period, he noted.

According to a comparison with other services in Canada that Bergen presented, Hamilton police has 145.8 officers per 100,000 population, which is below the national median of 156.6.

To maintain this cop-to-pop" ratio, Hamilton police will have to add 13 officers annually to keep pace with a city population forecast to reach 662,586 by 2031, he said.

Over the past five years, the police budget has hovered between 18.5 per cent and 18.7 per cent of the city's overall spending plan, he noted.

Of the proposed $6.96-million hike - which would make for a $183.5-million net budget in 2022 - employee-related costs represent the bulk of the increase at $4.95 million.

Bergen's presentation overlaps with a turbulent period for Hamilton police with advocates calling for the reallocation of police funding to other societal needs such as housing, health care and social services.

Two councillors - Nrinder Nann and Maureen Wilson - supported calls to defund" police amid demonstrations in the aftermath of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody in May 2020.

This past November, a group of housing advocates and police clashed after an early-morning fire at an encampment of homeless people at J.C. Beemer Park and then in front of the King William Street police station.

Black community leaders and others have called for charges to be dropped against six of the demonstrators who are with the Hamilton Encampment Support Network.

During his presentation, Bergen didn't address the J.C. Beemer and King William incidents directly, but said the service is reaching out" to the Black community. We have some challenges with that at different times. It ebbs and flows."

The service has hired an EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion) specialist, appointed a full-time LGBTQ liaison officer, and conducted a diversity and inclusion member survey, Bergen noted.

Traffic safety - including speeding - remains one of the public's top concerns, but so is a proliferation" of guns, he said.

Last year, police seized 204 firearms (a 13 per cent increase from 2020) of which 106 were semi-automatic handguns, deputy chief Ryan Diodati said.

That, along with a record 19 homicides in 2021, shows the trend is heading in the wrong direction."

Coun. John-Paul Danko said youth- and gun-involved violence is a primary concern" for residents in his Mountain ward.

City politicians will discuss the police budget request further as part of ongoing talks over the city's overall 2022 spending plan.

Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com