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Port Moody Police ask for 3.87% increase to their 2015 budget

The Port Moody Police Department is asking for a 2015 budget hike of just over $240,000, an increase of 3.87% from the amount budgeted in the 2014 financial plan. Chief Const. Chris Rattenbury and police board member Robert Simons presented the $9.

The Port Moody Police Department is asking for a 2015 budget hike of just over $240,000, an increase of 3.87% from the amount budgeted in the 2014 financial plan.

Chief Const. Chris Rattenbury and police board member Robert Simons presented the $9.7-million financial plan at Tuesday's PoMo council meeting, noting several new initiatives are in the works for 2015.

These include the creation of a mental health officer position at a cost of $110,442, a new flex team to assist with high demand areas of policing, increased community engagement and plans for integration of the Evergreen Line.

In an email, Rattenbury said the PMPD is working with researchers at SFU to determine what effect the Evergreen Line will have on the city and the information gleaned will be used to assist the police in making plans to manage it by developing an effective working relationship with Transit Police and determining what resources to allocate along the line, including, perhaps, police stations at Moody's two Evergreen stops.

Another $16,500 is being requested for recruiting costs, which are expected to jump next year due to higher-than-usual turnover.

"It's a bit of an anomaly for 2015 - this is due to several retirements," Rattenbury wrote, noting the department usually sees one retirement per year but there will be three next year. "And we have recently had some members leave here and go to work for other municipal [police departments], hence our recruiting costs will go up."

Also included in the financial plan are new capital projects proposed for 2015.

Replacing the security doors in the nine-year-old PMPD building is slated to cost $25,000 in each of the next three years. According to the report to council, the existing locks are costly to repair and replacement keys can take more than two months to arrive while the new system promises to improve security and provide an audit trail of door access.

Other proposed projects include:

$20,000 for new furniture (workstations, desks, chairs);

$18,075 for anti-slip flooring in cells;

$22,500 for Ethos police recruitment exam (would align with other municipal police departments);

and $5,500 for radar equipment for traffic enforcement.

Simons said the department is forecasting a potential decrease in traffic fine revenue in 2015, which could further affect the budget.

Asked by Coun. Zoe Royer whether there were plans to move the city's emergency dispatch to E-Comm headquarters in Vancouver, Simons and Rattenbury said a recent review didn't result in enough information to make a decision.

"We've brought in the CUPE union, the police services union and management. We'll collaborate and see what ideas we can come up with" beginning in the new year, Rattenbury added.

Mayor Mike Clay said the police budget will be referred to the city budget process for the new council to review early in 2015.

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@spayneTC