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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, October 31, 2014 | 10 Technology, weapons and vehicles in capital forecast continued from p.1 Board Chair and Oakville Mayor Rob Burton said the police budget represents a large portion of residents' overall property tax bill and is worthy of the investment. "The reality is that as other services to the public have been cut back through the years, there's been a shift in demand to the police," Burton said. Police compensation continues to be a major part of the 2015 budget at $123.3-million, a $5.4-million increase over the current budget. "The largest component of our budget, about 90 per cent of it, is compensation, so that is always going to be the major driver," Lavergne said. The re-assigning of six HRPS employees in 2015, both uniform and civilian, will help to offset staffing requests while finding efficiencies to respond to emerging trends. "What we're seeing here is the agility of our organization in being able to redeploy our resources to be more responsive to the public's demands," Burton said. Some of us have thought that the Province will probably view Tasers much as they do firearms. We all need to have firearms and local municipalities and police services boards certainly pay for firearms. Chief Stephen Tanner Halton Regional Police Do you have the CorreCt insuranCe Coverage? CNJ INsuraNCe & rIsk MaNageD solutIoNs Inc. has The soluTions! Jon-Paul Deerin · Home Owners Insurance · Small Business Insurance · Commercial Insurance · Automobile & Collector Cars Insurance · Wine & Art Collection Insurance BA, CRM, R.I.B (Ont.) Over 25 years Experience We are pleased to serve the Oakville area 201-2150 Winston Park Dr., Oakville 905-829-0097 · jpdeerin@cnjins.com Create your dream Crea h t a B r o n e h c t i K F n o I t a l l a t s n I e e r expIres nov. 30/2014 A major budget priority for the HRPS next year is restructuring its Community Mobilization and Engagement Strategy by creating several District Community Mobilization Bureaus. The three bureaus will consist of teams of officers working under a supervisor to enhance local partnerships and initiate proactive responses to community needs. These changes to the CMES were also approved at Thursday's board meeting as an agenda item separate from budget discussions. Lavergne said 24 officers would be required for the CMES revamp but because of redeployments it would require "an increment in staffing of only two positions in order to roll out this model." "At a very, very small incremental cost, we're redeploying a huge part of our resources to implement this more responsive approach to keeping the community safe," Burton added. Major capital projects for 2015 In terms of major capital projects for the upcoming year, the HRPS requested $735,000 for technology systems, $500,000 for operations equipment, such as weapons and Tasers, and $800,000 for specialized vehicles such as the mobile command unit. Burlington Councillor Rick Craven asked Chief Tanner about lobbying efforts from the police community regarding any future provincial funding for the Tasers and necessary training. Tanner said he was aware the Hamilton Police Services Board and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario had written to the Province about the funding of Tasers. Burton said he too had contacted the Province and was told, "you don't have to have them." Tanner said it would be "fabulous" to receive funding from a higher level of government for Tasers, but the placeholder costs were built into the capital budget in the mean time. "Some of us have thought that the Province will probably view Tasers much as they do firearms," Tanner said. "We all need to have firearms and local municipalities and police services boards certainly pay for firearms." HRPS officers currently have the use of Tasers, but increased funding could mean an expansion of their availability if the police ser- Rob Burton This is really a question of, do we extend the use of Tasers to all frontline officers as opposed to the on-call basis that we use now. Mayor Rob Burton Oakville/Police Services Board Chair expIres oFFer 0 2014 nov. 3 / Free InstallatIon oFFer vices board approved a request in the future. "This is really a question of do we extend the use of Tasers to all frontline officers as opposed to (the) on-call basis that we use now," Burton said, making mention of a standoff in Burlington earlier this week where a Taser was used. In the revenue/recoveries portion of the proposed budget, HRPS stands to gain an additional 1.4-million next year, or 10.3-million overall, in part because of a seven-year Provincial subsidy to court security and prisoner transportation, as well as an increase to paidduty volume. As part of the funding request presentation, Tanner highlighted Halton's performance against the other "Big 12" police services, such as Hamilton, Toronto, Durham and Niagara. Compared to the other "Big 12" Since 1998, HRPS has measured first on the overall crime severity, violent crime severity, and non-violent crime severity indexes ­ the only exception being a second place ranking for the later category in 2007. HRPS has also ranked first in cost per capita ($236), as well as office and staff per capita for several years running. "Some may, at some point, question the need for additional resources with our overall ranking in these areas... there are a number of other impacts on policing other than crime severity," Tanner said, mentioning the impacts of health and quality of life issues in the Region. "These are remarkable numbers for a growing and changing large regional municipality." 20 years experIenCe | QualIty CraFtsmanshIp | Custom desIgns Call for a Free Estimate 905-844-3332 www.aromakitchens.ca Visit our showroom: 333 Wyecroft Rd. Unit 3, Oakville