Hamilton City Council Should Just Vote No to Police Budget

After apparently just tabling the police budget tonight, for further review, the city still needs to make a decision on the police board's budget request. Personally  I think that council should just vote no. The chief, Glenn De Caire can appeal the decision to an independent arbitrator, however with the overall Ontario economy being weak as it is and Toronto achieving a budget freeze for their police, I'd take my chances with an arbitrator. Especially since council isn't looking to cut officers, only keep the current level.

Ten Police Officers on Suspension in Hamilton Currently

With police chief Glenn De Caire at city hall in front of council today, trying to get his increase, @EmmaattheSpec sent the following tweet:

"De Caire says there are 10 officers on suspension in 2011 and 2012. It's a statutory requirement to pay officers while suspended. #HamOnt"

Interesting that the chief wants 20 new officers, but up to ten are on suspension. I'm not exactly sure what this statement means. Are there ten on suspension now? Or in the years 2011 and 2012, ten different officers on suspension at one point or another?

I'm trying to track the current suspended cops. Right now I have David Doel, plus two more whose names I don't have handy. Looks like I should be looking for more.

Hamilton Police Budget Increase Cut Somewhat, Leaves Bomb for Next Year

Hamilton Police Chief De Caire has now proposed his 2013 budget increase only be 3.9%. However the request still includes the hiring of 20 new officers and 1 civilian, but phases in the hiring over time to get the smaller increase. Here's a CBC Hamilton article about it.

This becomes problematic for next year. Hiring the new people towards the end of the year lessens the effect on this year' budget, however for 2014 they will all be working for the entire year which combined with whatever salary increase has been agreed to for 2014 ensures a larger increase for the 2014 budget.

So smart thinking on behalf of the chief to hire the people he wants towards the end of the year. Their salary has little effect on this year's budget, but once they are hired, the chief can say next year with the big increase in the budget that not having the big increase will mean unpalatable layoffs. Very clever.

My solution as I have stated before is no new hires and cut the mounted unit.

Spec Article on Hamilton Police Services Board

Nicole O'Reilly has a really good article in the Spec about the police service board, specifically the four civilian members (including bios) that make up the majority. They are appointed by the province and since the Liberals have been in for a decade, likely they are Liberals appointees (some might say hacks, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt). There doesn't seem to be a lot of private sector work apart from Stayshyn and I'm not even sure from the Spec bio what Madeleine Levy had done for full time employment beyond being the member of various boards.

Certainly one doesn't get the sense from the article that any of the civilian board members have any concerns about fiscal responsibility. That's too bad, because anyone could build a good police force with unlimited money. Police Chief Glenn De Caire should be judged as an executive on value for money and he's been failing thus far as chief with his constant demands for more cash in a low GDP growth environment.

Further, there seems to be a belief held that raw police numbers are responsible for reducing crime rates.  However there are other factors, perhaps more important like the reduction of lead in the environment from banning leaded gasoline, described in this Mother Jones article. Considering Hamilton's industrial nature, lead levels and crime are certainly interesting and something I hope to return to in another post.

Hamilton Police Budget News

Andrew Dreschel has another good column on the Hamilton police budget in the Spec. Here's some interesting details:

"The chief responded that a target of 3 per cent would not only mean killing his request for 20 new officers, it would also mean axing 19 current staff and force him to review his legal options.
De Caire is clearly indicating he’s prepared to appeal to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission on the grounds the cuts would prevent him from providing adequate protection to the community.
The Police Services Act doesn’t give chiefs authority to go over the heads of their board and council on budget matters.
But Thomas Bell, lawyer for the police commission, notes that reductions to a police force do require the commission’s consent and challenges to downsizing a force can be triggered by anyone from civilians to police officers."

I've said it before and I'll say it again, one place to start to find cuts would be the $600K mounted unit. De Caire could freeze his own salary (I'm not sure if he already has but his salary increased on the sunshine list from 2010 to 2011 and we don't have the 2012 data until March) and maybe also the top brass. This may not be possible under current laws for the police, but it would be a good start.

It will be interesting to see how things go at a full council vote. I can't see Ancaster councilor Lloyd Ferguson voting for a big increase, nor ward 1's MacHattie. Frankly I can't really see a lot of the suburban councilors going for it, as their constituents likely are more concerned about tax increases and probably view the police as more of a downtown issue.

Hamilton Police Chief Reduces Budget Request

Here's a Spec column from Andrew Dreschel with some news on the 2013 Hamilton Police budget:

"Police Chief Glenn De Caire has lowered his controversial budget request.
Instead of asking for a 5.25 per cent increase for 2013, the chief has cut it to 4.75 per cent.
That drops his total hike to $6.4 million, down about $679,000 from his original $7.1-million request.
The vast bulk of the decrease comes from phasing in the hiring of 20 new officers to spread the financial impact between 2013 and 2014."

I continue to question why these new hires are needed with decreasing crime rates in Hamilton, at least partially due to aging demographics. Especially how expensive pay, benefits and pensions are for regular constables.

I also question the $600K horse unit and it looks like councilor Terry Whitehead does too:

"Whitehead thinks a better solution is for the chief to scrutinize some operational decisions, including the effectiveness of the action teams and horse unit."

Here's an interesting post on the blog Marginal Revolution suggesting doubling the number of police officers in the US. I'm not sure the arguments apply to Canada.

Hamilton Police Chief Glenn De Caire's Salary

I've blogged lately about Hamilton Police Chief Glenn De Caire's demand for 5.25% more police funding this year, despite other departments holding the line as well as a long line of previous increases for the police force.

Management pay for the City of Hamilton seems to be frozen lately, so I thought I would look to see how De Caire's salary has changed recently with the latest available sunshine list data for the city of Hamilton. In 2011, De Caire received $233,410,69 compared to $201,616.48 in salary, thus almost a 16% increase from 2010 to 2011. De Caire was appointed police chief in 2009 so we know that his 2010 salary all comes from being chief of police and not for being a deputy chief for part of the year. Why such a large salary increase? Why not something more reasonable given the economy and the increase in the city's revenues from 2010 to 2011? It should be interesting to see what the number is for the sunshine list for 2012 which comes out in March.

Regarding this large increase, is it possible for the senior management of the police to have their salary frozen like those of the rest of the city's management? There may be something contractual with the police that may prevent this, however freezing salaries for inspectors and up would probably cut down on the 5.25% increase De Caire is asking for in 2013. Along with cutting the mounted unit and no new officers and you're left with a much more reasonable increase in the police budget.

More On Hamilton Police Wanting More Money

Here's a good Spec opinion piece from Dreschel on the recent Hamilton police department's demand for more money (5.25% over this year's) in the 2013 budget. I was particularly interested in this part of the article:

"It doesn’t inspire confidence in the process when board member and mayor Bob Bratina compliantly says the board needs to take the conversation away from numbers and educate the public and council on why the increase is needed.

After all, Bratina noted, it’ll only cost the average household another $30 a year"  

Doesn't sound like Bratina is much interested in any fiscal austerity at all for the Hamilton police budget. 

Here's a CBC Hamilton article on what reducing the police budget from what is being requested would result in, according to Chief De Caire. Apparently 20 less positions and some overnight closures for two stations. I'm a bit confused as to what that means. From my understanding, this increase will fund 20 new positions. So is De Caire saying that 20 positions would be lost from the present staff, or the staffing would stay the same next year? Considering crime is trending down and Hamilton has an aging population, more police don't seem necessary.

I would say that one of my biggest issues with the police budget isn't that adding police wouldn't be good, but rather that the salary costs for an additional officer have risen so much (take a look at the 2011 city sunshine list) that they're not good value for money. Better to return the money to taxpayers or use it for infrastructure that will increase the city's productivity like paying the City's portion for the East West LRT.

Also the chief claims to be trying to save money, but as I'm writing this, the weather is pretty poor out. Why does that matter? The police mounted unit costs around $600K a year and I'm guessing it isn't deployed today, or if it is, with much reduce effectiveness. Hamilton has months of cold and snowy weather that limits the effectiveness of the horse unit. Plus the horses leave excrement everywhere (for example this week in the alley off John Street North leading to the Bingo hall parking lot downtown). If De Caire was serious about watching costs, the mounted unit would be gone.

Hamilton Police MOAR! Again

Hamilton Police Chief Glen De Caire is looking for a 5.25% increase in police funding for 2013 according to this Spec article. Of course that comes off of an increase of 3% in 2011 and 5% in 2010. Those are increases that are pretty much out of whack with governments in the Western world, but De Caire doesn't seem to really care about Hamilton taxpayers money. Reading the comments on the article, interestingly no one seems to be on the side of more police funding. OK looking again there's one guy.

De Caire is asking for 20 extra officers and an extra civilian employee. This seems somewhat strange considering there is no crime epidemic in Hamilton, plus Hamilton has an aging population. I would be curious to know what the increase would be without the extra officers. Guessing around $100,000 for all in costs for the officers would be around $2 million per year. That would hire a lot of bus drivers.

This info from the article was also interesting "Last month, the mounted patrol unit became a permanent fixture within the force. The total budget for that unit for 2013 is $658,810 — up 4.08 per cent from last year." I see the horse unit downtown often and frankly nothing much seems to accomplished, especially compared with an officer unmounted just standing around. Plus the horses aren't much use in winter weather. This is one program that needs to be cut.

Considering De Caire's history of asking for budget increases, and not protecting the public purse, I've lost confidence in him. I think the Hamilton police services board needs to ask him to resign. There's far better uses for this money, whether it is lower taxes or better public transit. Hamilton police officers are quite expensive (check out the latest sunshine list for the city) and adding more officers isn't a good use of public money.