Pubdate: Fri, 09 Nov 2012 Source: Standard, The (St. Catharines, CN ON) Copyright: 2012 Sun Media Website: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/676 Author: Jeff Bolichowski MAJOR DRUG BUST,INVESTIGATIONS DROVE POLICE COSTS ST. CATHARINES - It cost about $350,000 in overtime pay for Niagara Regional Police to handle the massive Project Ink drug investigation, said Chief Jeff McGuire, as he defended budget overruns driven by extra hours. McGuire laid that out for regional councillors Thursday as the service presented its 2013 fiscal plan to regional council's budget committee. Overtime costs are a major driver in taking the $126-million NRP budget up to a 2.87% increase - 0.3% over the target regional council asked for. But McGuire said overtime is up because officers have had a lot of major cases to investigate. Those include Project Ink, which busted a major international drug ring running through Niagara. "Those are things that we can't turn our backs on, nor should we do so," he said. "These are not the types of things that can be investigated on an eight-hour day." Councillors didn't vote on the budget Thursday, but the committee meeting was council's first chance to sound off on the budget. It forms a major slice of the Region's fiscal road map. McGuire said the police service is trying to manage wages by leaving non-essential civilian jobs vacant when people get sick or go on vacation. But the NRP is on track for a $1.1-million overtime budget overrun this year. McGuire said that's largely due to major trial requirements and investigations. "Overtime dollars in policing, we manage as best we can and deal with them however we can," he said. But councillors still grilled the chief over his first Niagara budget. "The perception from a lot of the community is the crime rate has fallen for the past 10 years," said St. Catharines Coun. Andy Petrowski. He suggested that could open the door to cutting staff. "The crime rate is seen to be leveling off or going down. Why would the community, including myself, be misguided to think authorized strength could decrease?" McGuire said the decline in crime is likely because the service has maintained its strength. It can have up to 704 officers on the beat, plus another 319 civilians. "We feel we're at the level we require to provide adequate and effective policing," he said. Thorold Mayor Ted Luciani praised the NRP for busting the drug ring. "Three-hundred fifty thousand dollars in overtime. To me, that's money well spent," he said. Niagara Falls Coun. Bart Maves said it's not clear what amounts to adequate policing standards. "Everyone likes their police force and men and women and the services they provide," he said. But, he said, when it comes to getting value for money, "I don't think most taxpayers feel that they are." McGuire said most people are generally happy with their police service. And, he said, police are taxpayers, too. Less mentioned was a $15-million price tag for a new voice radio system slotted for 2013. That's to replace the aging Motorola system police currently use. "It's a mission-critical piece of work," McGuire said earlier this week. And, he said, it's about more than officer safety. "It's important not to forget that that translates down to your safety, for the public." - --- MAP posted-by: Matt