The Waterloo Regional Police Service has released its draft 2026 budget, which shows it's asking for an additional $20 million over this year for a total of $272.6 million.
A draft budget was presented and discussed at a police services board meeting on Wednesday.
The biggest impact to the budget revolves around cost of living adjustments to officers' pay and benefits, as well as technical investments in software, training, artificial intelligence and fleet maintenance, director of finance and assets Kirsten Hand told board members.
Hand said making sure the service has an adequate reserve to maintain equipment, vehicles and facilities is another big impact to the service's budget this year.
The service is also looking to add 20 sworn officers in 2026.
Of the new officers needed, 13 will be for frontline patrol services, while six officers are needed for investigative services.
Police Chief Mark Crowell said the increased budget is necessary.
"We're looking to build a multi-year staffing expansion plan to meet the needs of this growing community, but also to provide a fluid acknowledgement of how growth can occur responsibly in a balanced and smooth out fashion to allow us those crucial investments, but predictability for our board and the community," Crowell said.
Additional court house officers needed
Additional officers in the region's courthouse on Frederick Street is also impacting this year's budget, Hand said.
"Our in-person court volume is above pre-pandemic volumes. That, coupled with increasing violent incidents at courthouses in Waterloo region, necessitates an investment in our court security staffing," she said.
That means an additional five special constables and two sworn officers are needed, at a cost of $2 million.
Hand said the need for more courthouse officers follows a direction from the province's Solicitor General earlier this year to provide enhanced security in all courtrooms.
Crowell said the service has been advocating to the province for more stable funding for court services provided by police.
Road safety team needed
Hand said an additional $1.2 million is needed to create a full time road safety team dedicated to traffic enforcement in the region.
There have been more than 16,400 road safety charges laid in the first three quarters of the year and 12 traffic fatalities so far.
The road safety team "would also assist our frontline patrol division as well," she said.
Police planned two public input sessions. The first, on Sept. 29, did not have anyone speak at the meeting and accepted one piece of correspondence.
Police will hold the second meeting on Oct. 27 to allow the public to offer their thoughts on the budget. People need to sign up to take part in that process.
The next scheduled police services board meeting on Nov. 12 will look to review and approve the budget.
Once approved by the police services board, the police budget also needs to be approved by the Region of Waterloo. The region's calendar shows the final budget is anticipated to be approved on Dec. 20.