Ottawa Police Service Board meets to approve 2021 budget
Posted Nov 23, 2020 01:48:00 PM.
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) Board will be looking to approve its 2021 Draft Operating and Capital budget at 2 p.m. Monday, November 23.
However, with 19 public delegations and the presence of city councillors Mathieu Fleury and Riley Brockington, the OPS Board will more than likely be discussing “defunding” the Ottawa Police Service, rather than its proposed budget increase for 2021.
As tabled on November 4, 2020, the Ottawa police draft operating budget for 2021 totals $376.4-million compared to $332.5-million in 2020. This represents an increase of $13.2-million.
The 2021 OPS draft capital budget is currently tabled at $24.1-million.
According to Ottawa police, the budget increases were developed to support the capacity for change, while carrying out strategic goals identified in the 2019-2020 budget.
OPS strategic goals:
- Advancing community policing
- Making meaningful progress on equity, diversity and inclusion
- Supporting members
- Modernizing the work environment
This 'capacity for change' comes as a result of the defund the police movement, in part due to the recent not-guilty verdict in the case of the police killing of Abdirahman Abdi.
Public delegations and comments are welcomed at Monday's meeting.
