Полиция Уотерлу планирует нанять 73 патрульных к 2030 году для снижения сверхурочных

After “chronically underbudgeting” for overtime, Waterloo Regional Police are looking at increasing its funding after another six months where overtime hours almost doubled. Kirsten Hand, the police service’s director of finance and assets, told the police board last week the overtime budget is slowly being increased yearly to address what the service sees as a losing battle to address an ongoing issue. Overtime hours have increased 16 per cent year over year, Hand said, though by last month, the overtime budget overrun had dropped to 13 per cent. “We’re trying through each budget process to increase that budget to a more reasonable level,” Hand said when asked by board member Karen Quigley-Hobbs if there is an overtime-hours industry standard the department is trying to hit. “There is work ongoing to understand what is an appropriate amount of overtime, and how do we make sure we have the budget that can fund that.” Police public sector strategy leader Mandy Williams said comparisons have been made to see if Waterloo Regional Police is “wildly out of step” in overtime hours with other services. “We are not,” Williams said. The service has been trying to whittle down overtime hours due to budgeting concerns since 2024, forming a committee that year to look at strategies to curb ballooning overtime costs. Between Jan. 1, 2025, and Aug, 31, 2025, the service managed to cut overtime by 22,590 hours from the same time in 2024. Still, the overtime budget was exceeded by $1.68 million. Vacancies, absences and an authorized staffing level lower than what is needed in the region was the issue, the board was told at that time. Between January and June this year, overtime had increased once again, exceeding the budget by $2.1 million, with an increase in overtime hours by 11,554 over the same time in 2025. Again, a police board report said staffing shortages on patrol and an increase in investigations were to blame. As well, there is a June overtime payout that skews the numbers slightly, the report said. Trying to get the overtime hours down, the working group has been making sure overtime request grants fit the purpose of need, instead of just being rubber-stamped, said Williams. Police had already taken the overtime committee’s advice to decrease overtime opportunities on lighter shifts from 13 per cent to three cent, and increasing opportunities on heavier shifts from 15 per cent to 30 per cent. They are also making officers take lunch breaks. As well, Williams said there is a staffing strategy in place to try and reduce the need for overtime. The strategy comes with Waterloo Regional Police continually having one the lowest sworn-member-to-population ratio of the Big 12 police services, but one of the highest numbers of police-reported crime incidents per officer and police-reported crime charges per officer. In what is dubbed as the service’s dynamic staffing project, police examine responsive staffing models in simulated environments to inform patrol staffing levels. Police contracted a consultant for $500,000, through 2025 to 2027, to lay out the simulation involving patrol, investigative services and communications. In November 2025, the police board adopted the consultant’s report to budget to hire 73 patrol officers by the end of 2030 to meet workload demands and reduce overtime reliance. Based on software simulation to forecast service demand, 73 officers will be based on historical workload and growth projections to 2030. With the hirings spread out over years due to budget constraints, it will be a slow process in its effects on overtime, Hand said. That is just for patrol officers. A report will come out later this year on what will be needed in the investigative field. In the final year of the consultant’s contract, staffing will be examined in the communications centre. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page.