THUNDER BAY – A busy year for violent crime is wreaking havoc on city police budgets.
The city’s police force is forecasting a variance of close to $590,000, or 1.6 per cent of the total $36.5-million annual operating budget, heading into the final quarter of the year.
Police chief J.P. Levesque said the service has responded to 11 events they characterize as major incidents so far in 2014, with eight of those being homicides.
“Those types of investigations eat up a lot of resources and can’t be looked after in the normal course of duty so they require a fair bit of overtime,” Levesque said.
“The major investigations are going to cost money, there’s no getting around that, and you can’t predict how many of those you’re going to have.”
The police service is forecasting a total overrun of $364,800 related to personnel. Other shortfalls include $195,100 from projected paid duty revenue and $63,000 as a result of winter control from earlier this year.
The report said strict restrictions have been placed on overtime as well as any discretionary purchases to help keep the budget as close to black as possible.
