City Administration might already have to do some tinkering with the preliminary budget released on Wednesday, because Saskatoon Police Chief Troy Cooper is meeting next week with the Board of Police Commissioners to request 7 more police officers for 2020, in addition to the already requested 4 officers next year and 3 in 2021.

Cooper says the officers are needed to address the opening of a supervised consumption site on 20th Street, but the additional officers will also help with the situation in the surrounding area with the increase in violent crime, especially since this summer. The SPS has less than the national average of police per population, so Cooper believes this addition would help get them back to a more appropriate level.

He explains that the original budget didn’t include extra officers for the supervised consumption site because they needed to check with other cities to see what would be needed first. The staffing decision is aligned with the approval of the consumption site and not with the budget process.

He adds that they begin preparing for the annual budget early in the year, and at first, it seemed like they were on track. Last year there was a reduced number of calls which he Cooper hoped would continue, and there were 4 homicides in the first part of this year. But as the summer hit, violent crimes and homicide numbers rose.

The Board of Police Commissioners will meet on Wednesday to discuss the request.