Timmins police seeking $1.8M budget increase

Timmins police finalize 2025 budget The Timmins Police Service has approved its 2025 budget, which totals $20.4 million budget, an increase of 9.6%.

The Timmins Police Service Board has passed its 2025 budget and is seeking Timmins city council’s approval.

The board is seeking a 9.6 per cent total increase -- 2.9 per cent in the operating budget and a 6.7 per cent in the capital budget.

Timmins police budget The Timmins Police Services Board passed its 2025 budget and it has taken public feedback into consideration. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News Northern Ontario)

Officials said they’re taking public feedback into consideration and what they’ve heard is people don’t want the status quo.

"We're pushing this forward because this is something the community has been asking for -- it's something the community needs," said deputy chief Darren Dinel.

"And in order for us to provide the proper level of service, we need to have these budgetary increases so that we can implement the technology."

A key component of the capital budget is an investment in the Timmins Police Service vehicle fleet. Several new marked cruisers will be purchased to increase officer visibility throughout the community.

Officials said the vehicles will be equipped with in-car cameras and mobile data terminals.

"The mobile data terminal can do everything that a computer inside the station can do, but also (they’ll) have the availability when they're on a traffic stop to run the plate themself and not tie up the airwaves, but to be able to do some of the work that they normally would have to return to the station to do," said police board chair Kraymr Grenke.

Recruitment underway

Recruitment of new employees is underway to fill vacancies in a number of departments. Ten more police officers are also needed.

"We are we're at the point where we're filling the vacancies that we've never felt before, where at 86 officers today we're going to get to the 96 officer complement next year with good recruiting and retention and that's our definitely our plan," said Grenke.

Training is another priority in the budget, with a focus on mandatory training and certification, front-line training and specialized investigative courses in areas such as crime, drug enforcement, and training for trainers.

"With new staff comes more training that old staff would have had in the past," said Dinel.

"Now we need to ramp that up and make sure that everybody has the proper levels of training so that they can accomplish the jobs that they're assigned to do."

The $20.4 million budget will be presented at the next Timmins Council meeting. The 9.6 per cent increase is nearly a $1.8 million ask.