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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 10 ,2 02 0 | 14 To listen to a classic carol from our 2018 Christmas concert go to - georgetownchoral.ca of hiring and training 14 new police officers. He said these will be mostly front-line officers; however, there will also be six investigative positions. The funding request will also cover the cost of hiring and training three new civilian positions within the police service. Other significant driv- ers of the 2021 police budget include negotiated salary increases and continued growth in benefit costs and continued investment in the Public Safety LTE Net- work, which permits offi- cers to communicate with each other when civilian wireless networks are over- whelmed or unavailable. Upgrading/replacing front-line officer technolo- gy tools and planning for the consolidation of police stations in Milton and Hal- ton Hills into a single new facility were also listed as budget priorities. Vehicle replacement was another expense, with Tanner noting Halton po- lice front-line vehicles typ- ically last about three years due to how exten- sively they are driven. Tanner concluded his recent budget presentation by noting Halton contin- ued its now 15-year run as the safest large municipal- ity in Canada in 2019, ac- cording to a report by Sta- tistics Canada. The police chief credited this success to Halton's citi- zens and the work being done by front-line officers and investigators. "We are consistently the best in crime severity in- dex and weighed crime clearance rate. That's the one I've been most proud of over the last few years," said Tanner. "Our staff-to-population ratios and cost-per-capita ratios are the lowest of all of our comparable police services." Halton Police Board member Curt Allen said the funding request is rea- sonable and argued it's im- portant for Halton to main- tain its safe community status. Halton Police Board Chair Rob Burton said that despite the police having to absorb an $800,000 funding cut, the requested funding increase is still below growth plus inflation. "I think we can be proud of this," said Burton. In speaking with the In- dependent about the bud- get, Halton Hills Regional Councillor Jane Fogal said there was initially a real concern that the consoli- dated police station would be built somewhere in Mil- ton, whereas the location on Steeles Avenue in Horn- by is much more accessible for Halton Hills residents. "This is a compromise, but at least it's in Halton Hills on a road that will be our first transit corridor," she noted. When reached for com- ment Andrew Tyrrell, president of the Canadian Caribbean Association of Halton (CCAH) and former member of the Halton Po- lice Board, said CCAH would support a Halton po- lice investment in body cameras and enhanced in- car cameras, noting this would make police actions more transparent. Tanner mentioned dur- ing his budget presenta- tion that body cameras are a technology he is looking into. Tyrrell said CCAH also supports the hiring of new front-line officers, which he said are needed as the community continues to grow. "It has been widely not- ed objectively that Halton police is one of the most ef- fective -- if not the most ef- fective -- police forces in Canada," said Tyrrell. "It does more than any other police department in Canada with less." The police budget went before regional council yesterday (Dec. 9) for re- view and deliberations, fol- lowed by approval on Dec. 16. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With the 2021 Halton police budget up for approval by regional coun- cil, we took a look behind the numbers to see how next year's plans will im- pact local residents. NEWS Continued from page 1 REGION MUST MAINTAIN ITS SAFETY STATUS: BOARD MEMBER Chief Stephen Tanner has laid out details for the 2021 police budget, with a request for $168.8 million. Graham Paine/Metroland