In a year-end interview with CTV News, Regina Police Chief Evan Bray said a $4 million budget increase approved by council on Dec. 16 is necessary for RPS to meet Regina’s changing needs.
“300, 400 calls per 24 hour period is very average for us,” Bray said. “Our city has grown in population size and geographic size, and complexities. The types of files and work that we do in our community is not getting any easier. And so our service has to find a way to keep pace with the growth of the city.”
Several delegations at the council meeting where the budget was approved wanted to see money redirected to social programming instead of the police budget. Bray agreed more contributions for those types of programs are necessary, but said it should not be done at the expense of police funding.
“You can't stop doing one and start doing the other. If you do both properly over time,” Bray said. “Hopefully that investment that you're making, from a social side of things will make a tangible difference from a community safety side of things and eventually there will be less requirement and less need for policing in our community.”
Bray noted an all-time high number of murders and a large number of domestic conflicts in addition to the general needs like traffic safety, stopping thefts and more are factors in increasingly complex police work.
“It's not an either or discussion. In fact, proper investments in both will yield the best results,” Bray said.
Given the heightened conversations around reconciliation in Canada, Bray said there have been many “positive steps”.
“I do know, however, that there is more work to do,” Bray said. “We have to work at understanding why it is some people don’t feel safe around the police or don’t trust the police. What can we do to enhance that?”
As for the ongoing renovations at RPS headquarters, Bray said the first phase of construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 that will allow most employees to move over to the former STC building.
“Then there'll be phase two which is some renovation work in our current headquarter building to really make that an operational space for all of our frontline officers,” Bray said. “We're going to have the new addition which will be about a year away from opening, be the public entrance and where people will be able to come not only to report crime, but if we have meetings, anywhere the public is going to access will likely be in the newer part of the building.”
The current headquarters is planned for use as a “secure” facility once the second phase is complete, with little public access.
