Budget

(Ottawa) – The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) tabled its 2023 Draft Operating and Capital Budget with the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) at a special meeting of the Board this morning.

 “This Draft Budget is designed to make strategic investments in public safety that ensure we have the resources to properly respond to calls for service and emergencies,” said Chief Eric Stubbs. “This includes how we develop our operational and partnered response to public events and demonstrations.”

 The 2023 Draft Budget is focused on ensuring that our community can see and experience its return on investment in policing, including improved public safety, social change, and community building.

 Draft 2023 Budget highlights:

• The draft budget includes a detailed and transparent spending plan as well as operational and policy decisions that are designed to build public trust, prioritize the care of all residents and members, and supports the City of Ottawa’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan (CWSB).

• Allocation of 25 new full-time equivalent positions
• New and ongoing investments in strategic priorities, including promotion and implementation of Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and CSWB initiatives, to support the health, safety, and wellness of our communities and our members
• Advancement on strategic, operational, and partnered responses to public events and demonstrations
• Modernization of policing services, and delivery on commitments made in the Facilities Strategic Plan (FSP) through the advancement on the South Facility Project

The OPS has continued to make meaningful progress on its strategic initiatives in 2022. Many of these projects will continue through 2023. Work has been primarily focused on advancing EDI, addressing anti-hate, anti-racism, the rise in mental health and substance abuse calls for service, and improving collaboration with community partners and stakeholders.

“The budget is an extremely important document for the Board and the Service as it provides a financial map for how we will achieve our policing priorities in the coming year,” stated Chair Suzanne Valiquet. “We look forward to hearing from the community as part of our budget process.” 

Budget Financial Highlights

The gross operating budget totals $401.2 million under the draft 2023 proposal. With the deduction of one-time revenue, non-taxation revenue and recoveries, the net operating budget for the OPS is $359 million. This level represents an increase of $15.2 million over 2022. With the assessment growth assumption of 2.2 percent, the resulting net increase to the police taxation revenues is 2.5 percent. This equates to an approximate $17 increase in taxes per household, which brings the total to $680 for the average Ottawa residence.

Efficiencies

The OPS Draft Budget is a declining portion of the overall City Budget. In 2017 it represented 9.7% of the City Budget. In 2023, it would be 8.9%.

The OPS has identified and implemented efficiencies as part of its annual budget process to ensure that the organization operates in a way that is lean and fiscally responsible. On average, during the previous 10 years, efficiencies achieved have been in the $2 million range per year. The 2022 Budget included $7.05 million in efficiencies.  The Service identified $5.05 million in permanent budget base reductions, and the Board reduced the budget by an additional $2 million.

The 2023 efficiencies amount is less than what has historically been achieved annually due to the ambitious $7.05 million efficiency target from 2022 that is still being finalized. The  $500,000 efficiency identified for 2023 has been reinvested into the organization in the form of four new positions to assist in reducing the growth requirements for the OPS.

We want to hear from you…

The OPS wants to hear from residents and businesses about their thoughts on the 2023 Budget. Please consider completing the 2023 Draft Budget questionnaire, located at https://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/who-we-are/budget.aspx

Public delegations and questions from Ottawa City Councillors are welcome at the February 15, 2023, Finance and Audit Committee meeting starting at 10 a.m. via Zoom at the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82194776002 [us02web.zoom.us]

Comments are also welcome at the beginning of the regular meeting of the OPSB on February 27, 2023, starting at 4 p.m. (via Zoom - link to be announced by OPSB).

The OPS 2023 Budget is scheduled for approval by the OPSB on February 27, 2023. It will later be reviewed and scheduled for approval by Ottawa City Council on March 1, 2023.

A complete copy of the OPS’ 2023 Draft Operating and Capital Budget can be reviewed by visiting https://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/who-we-are/budget.aspx

You can also request a copy of the report by emailing  Budget@otttawpolice.ca.

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CONTACT:

Media Relations Section

Tel: 613-236-1222, ext. 5366

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, November 3, 2021            8:35am 

(Ottawa) – The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) tabled its 2022 Draft Operating and Capital Budget with the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) at a special meeting of the Board this morning. 

The Draft OPS Budget was developed in consultation with the Board and the community. It fulfills and supports the direction and strategic plan of the Board with an effective financial plan and multi-year strategies that support and move forward an agenda of change at the OPS. 

The Budget includes $5.1 million in efficiency savings, addresses $14.7 million (total pressures) of labour cost increases and inflation and includes no growth in the sworn officer complement. It includes new services and approaches to address the needs of our Indigenous communities, the need to work more closely with the social service sector, OPS culture change and the role of data to improve service to the public (see background document). 

“The end state vision of this Budget plan is to build a police service where every community member and every Service member feels respected, supported, and accepted, no matter their background, status or circumstances,” said Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly. “It is extremely challenging to balance the desire to flatten the cost curve of the Budget while trying to meet the increasingly diverse and growing demands for service and change both inside and outside of the OPS. The OPS joins the Board in its commitment to find that balance while building a truly different and better police service.” 

“Taking a balanced approach, the OPSB has given the Ottawa Police Service direction to build the 2022 budget from a starting point of 0%, and have asked that any additional money requested is accompanied by a detailed justification for why it is needed,” said OPSB Chair Diane Deans. “This approach will provide the OPSB with a clear picture of budget pressures, resources required to maintain service levels, and growth to support strategic directions, and is critical to the Board’s ability to make decisions about resource allocation more transparently.” 

Budget Financial Highlights  

The gross operating budget totals $389.7 million under the Draft 2022 proposal. With the deduction of one-time revenue, non-taxation revenue and recoveries, the net operating budget for the Police Service is $346.5 million. This level represents an increase of $14.0 million over 2021. With the assessment growth assumption of 1.7%, the resulting net increase to the police taxation revenues is 2.86%.  This equates to an approximate $19 increase on the tax bill which brings the total to $663 for the average urban household. 

The OPS also made continuous efforts to identify cost savings and efficiency opportunities to mitigate the forecast financial pressures. The OPS identified $5.1 million in efficiencies and savings for 2022.  

The OPS’ Draft 2022 budget also includes forgoing all thirty (30) of the annual growth police officer positions. 

Efficiencies  

The Budget also identifies $5.1 million in total efficiencies and savings through a variety of management interventions, a fleet and facilities rationalization exercise and the privatization of the collision reporting centres.

A $2 million management efficiency target is being set for 2022 to identify and achieve savings from equipment, supplies and training/travel. 

To build on that work, a three-year management efficiency program is being put in place to find $3.5 million in efficiencies in 2023, 2024 and 2025.  

Have your say…  

The Ottawa Police Service and the Board wants to hear from residents and businesses about their thoughts on the 2022 Budget. 

Public delegations and questions from Ottawa City Councillors are welcome at the November 9, 2021 Finance and Audit Committee meeting starting at 1pm via Zoom. 

Delegations will also be welcome at the beginning of the regular meeting of the OPSB on November 22nd. 

The Ottawa Police 2022 Budget is scheduled for approval by the Board on November 22 by Ottawa City Council on December 8th, 2021.  

A complete copy of the Ottawa Police Service 2022 Draft Operating and Capital Budget is available for viewing or downloading from ottawapolice.ca/2022Budget. As well, it can be requested through info@ottawapolice.ca.  

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CONTACT:

Media Relations Section                  

Tel: 613-236-1222, ext. 5366

The budget includes the following new initiatives:

Call Diversion: This will develop and implement an alternative call "referral" program for low-risk, low-acuity 911 calls or calls to police. Intended for immediate referral to social service agencies as well as 311/211 call centres allowing the most appropriate response to people, many of whom are dealing with low-risk mental health and addiction concerns. The goal is to reduce calls by 5% in 2022, 10% in 2023 and 15% in 2024.

Indigenous Strategy: This will develop a formal partnership with the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition to co-establish and co-develop a strategic plan that will include the delivery of specific culturally competent services for First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples, to conduct service demand referrals to Indigenous or Inuit based services, to fully implement all Truth & Reconciliation Commissions and MMIWG Commission recommendations

OPS Culture Change: Investments as part of the ongoing culture change strategy that will promote a safe, harassment and discrimination-free workplace.

Member Health & Wellness: Support the on the job wellness of members and ensure effective return to work strategies that support members.

Investigative Change Strategy: This investment will enable the OPS to work in partnership with community stakeholders/subject matter experts to conduct joint risk assessment/post charge diversion/community referrals on investigative case files. 

Data Driven Service Optimization: This investment will improve the utilization of data to optimize the OPS deployment model, help provide better service to residents and more information to the public.

As a result of these extensive community consultations, the OPS interprets the following key points, which are generally consistent with past community consultations:

• Police services matter to Ottawa residents and residents want improvements. The vast majority of respondents in various consultations provide ways in which the police need to improve, particularly in terms of building partnership and engagement with diverse, marginalized, and racialized communities. 

• 51% of respondents favour increasing the OPS budget. When asked about their preference between increasing, decreasing and maintaining the OPS budget at the current level: 51% preferred to increase the budget, 16% to maintain it, and 26% to decrease it. 

• Residents want a new approach for response to social issues, particularly mental illness and addiction, in order to have better outcomes and responses. The desired role for OPS in these responses varies significantly, but it is clear that a new approach is needed. 

• There are pronounced community safety issues, top of which are Mental health and addictions, road and pedestrian safety, violence against women, and gun/gang/drug related criminal violence. 

• Public trust has been eroded. Distrust of OPS has gone up by 19% since 2018.  Nonetheless, the majority of respondents to various consultations want to see the police improve so as to earn community trust.  This degradation of trust measurements continues to be a major concern for all police services and must be addressed.

• On-going investment is needed in equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) efforts. Changes to funding brought about through this Budget should not undermine efforts to increase diversity within the Service, address racism, and improve training.

“We continue to review the results of this consultation. We have heard the calls for change which includes the need to work more effectively with our community partners on integrated and/or alternative responses to social issues, especially when it comes to mental health and addictions calls,” said Chief Sloly. “Moving forward, our 2022 Draft Budget will address these important community and member issues, ensure ongoing investments in equity, diversity and inclusion while addressing the community safety and well-being needs of a growing city.”

The 2022 Budget consultation period was the most extensive public feedback collection process in OPS history. It included a public survey, polling data, interviews and focus groups, an OPS member survey, studies of social media sentiment and a specific reach out to racialized, indigenous and diverse communities. 

The consultations yielded qualitative and quantitative feedback from OPS stakeholders, residents, community groups, City Councillors, and OPS members. Surveys were distributed in nine languages and in accessible formats. The results comprise data provided from five surveys with 8,000 respondents, community forums, small group discussions, one-on-one conversations, delegations, and written feedback.

The report was discussed at a meeting of the Board on Monday October 25th.

OPS/OPSB Public and Stakeholder Opinion Survey

• Perceptions of community and personal safety are divided. Almost half (47%) of respondents indicated that their perceptions of community safety for the City of Ottawa have decreased in the past two years, while the same percentage (47%) thought safety in their own community/neighbourhood had remained the same over this period.

• More participants are satisfied than dissatisfied with personal safety. Just over half of respondents (52%) indicated they are satisfied/very satisfied with their personal safety from crime, while 20% were dissatisfied/very dissatisfied.

• Overdoses, mental health, violent crimes, and distracted driving top crime/disorder concerns. When asked to rate their level of concern with a range of crimes and disorder issues for the City of Ottawa overall, the following had the highest ratings of extremely/very concerned:
  • overdoses/addictions/mental health care (66%)
  • gun violence/gang violence/drug violence (63%)
  • violence against women (60%) and sexual assault (55%)
  • distracted driving (56% extremely/very concerned)
• Residents are more satisfied than dissatisfied with OPS quality of service, though satisfaction has declined since 2018. Response was mixed to the question on quality of service, with 42% indicating they were very satisfied/satisfied, 23% neutral, and 34% dissatisfied/very dissatisfied. This represents a negative shift of 18% in satisfaction since 2018.  

• Almost three-quarters of respondents trust the OPS, but trust has been eroded. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of trust in OPS: 
• 42% indicated they had a very high or high level of trust in OPS (down from 55% in 2018)
• 30% that they had a moderate level of trust (comparable to 33% in 2018)
• 29% indicated they had little or no trust in OPS (up from 10% in 2018) 

• An alternative model to mental health response is a top priority. The survey requested input regarding previously-identified priorities. The top shared priorities were:
• an alternative model to mental health response (over 2.2K supported)
• community policing (over 1.7K supported)
• violence against women (over 1.7K supported)
• youth strategy (over 1.5K supported)
• traffic safety (over 1.5K supported)

• Increased focus on crime and police presence are other top priorities. Respondents were asked to provide priorities in open-ended comments. The most frequently mentioned themes were: 
• increased focus on crime
• increased number of officers and presence
• increased public outreach to strengthen relationships and trust
• increased accountability and transparency

• 51% of respondents favour increasing the OPS budget. When asked about their preference between increasing, decreasing and maintaining the OPS budget at the current level: 51% preferred to increase the budget, 16% to maintain it, and 26% to decrease it. 

• Over two-thirds favour increasing or maintaining services provided by police. Among respondents, 68% of respondents favoured increasing or maintaining services provided by police (while 24% favoured a reduction in services) and 57% reported wanting to see increased investment from the OPS in service delivery and reform (while 12% favoured decreased investment).

• Just over half of respondents want an increase in OPS staffing. More than half (53%) preferred increasing the number of OPS officers, 21% preferred decreasing it, 18% preferred maintaining the current level.

• Nearly three in four would like a change in roles and responsibilities for OPS. Seventy-three percent of respondents were in favour of shifting some responsibility from OPS to community services, while 22% preferred OPS maintains current roles and responsibilities.

• A strong majority of respondents want the City to invest more in social services. Most respondents (70%) want to see increased investment in programs and services addressing social issues by the City.

• Negative sentiment highest among some marginalized populations. Demographic analysis of support for reductions in OPS budget and number of officers shows that support is highest among: younger respondents, those identifying as transgender/other gender, non-heterosexual, as well as those of higher educational status, those with lower income, and those in urban areas of the city. Results differ slightly for racialized members.  While trust and satisfaction ratings were lower amongst Indigenous and South Asian respondents, there were no significant differences by race/ethnicity in other findings.  The majority of survey respondents in each race/ethnicity category preferred an increase to the number of officers, an increase to the OPS budget, and to shift some responsibility for response to social issues from OPS to community services.  

Advanis Research

• Majority report OPS is doing a good job. In 2021, 60% of participants reported that the OPS is doing a good or excellent job. This is equal to the national average, though slightly down from 63% in 2020. 

• Significant rise in negative perception of OPS performance:
  • ratings of OPS as poor/very poor rose from 10% to 19%
  • perceptions that police treat people with respect decreased from 66% to 58%
  • perceptions that police make decisions based on fact decreased from 58% to 54%
  • only 40% of respondents agreed that police provide the same quality of service to all citizens 
• Fear of crime has increased. The percentage of Ottawa citizens who reported that they always/almost always worry about crime increased from 12% in 2020 to 17% in 2021.

• Negative perceptions about OPS response times have doubled. In answering whether police respond quickly to calls for assistance, 16% disagreed/strongly disagreed in 2021, compared to 8% in 2020.