Kitchener councillors unhappy over new plan to pay police $587K annually for bylaw dispatch

When police handle an issue that should be dealt with by bylaw officers, should cities be billed? CTV’s Spencer Turcotte reports.

When police get a call it’s not always something they should be responding to.

Now, the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) is looking to bill cities for the incidents that should be handled by bylaw instead.

It all stems from recent changes to provincial legislation, allowing police service boards to recover these costs, which can be significant.

A new City of Kitchener staff report indicates WRPS has been providing dispatch services for municipal bylaw enforcement at no cost to the city for 30 years.

“However, recent amendments to the Police Service Act now allow police service boards to recover costs for non-core services, including dispatch services for municipal enforcement,” said Helen Fylactou, Kitchener’s manager of enforcement.

That means it could now cost the city about $586,738 annually based on current call volumes, but that amount will be evaluated every year.

“The proposed model would provide dedicated bylaw-only dispatchers, a separate radio channel and a centralized phone number for bylaw calls,” said Fylactou.

The contract is set to begin in July, but the police service will only begin to charge in October.

“This is simply police recovering the cost they have to pay in order to provide this service to us,” explained Michael May, Kitchener’s deputy CAO.

With a dedicated line for bylaw enforcement, response times are expected to be faster since they would no longer be managed alongside other police calls.

Still, councillors, including Kitchener’s mayor, aren’t pleased with the associated cost.

“The fact that we had an operating understanding, we took on certain costs, they took on certain costs over the last 25-plus years. Now, they’re essentially saying legislation changed so we’re going to use this as an opportunity to bill you. Is that essentially what the message is from WRPS?” asked Mayor Berry Vrbanovic.

“That is correct,” Deputy CAO May responded.

The new model is expected to improve bylaw officer safety by allowing for continued access to police dispatch which may be needed to request backup. That point alone prompted councillors to vote in favour of the contract, but not without reluctance.

“It feels a little bit like, quite frankly, that the police service is starting to nickel and dime us,” said Vrbanovic.

Ward 7 Councillor Bill Ioannidis said he doesn’t feel good about the change. Ward 3 Councillor Jason Deneault agreed.

“I think it would have been appropriate for somebody from WRPS to actually be here, to answer some questions,” said Deneault.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for WRPS explained they would have been happy to answer any questions at the committee meeting on Monday.

“[M]any councillors expressed dissatisfaction that WRPS was not in attendance at the meeting to answer questions. To clarify, WRPS was never invited to attend. Had an invitation been extended, we would have been pleased to participate and provide any information required. We welcome every opportunity to engage with our elected officials,” a statement read, in part.

The statement went on to explain why none of this should have come as a surprise.

“Discussions with the City of Kitchener around the new dedicated by-law system began on July 2, 2024, and have been ongoing since then.”

The quoted cost for this new approach is based on Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and North Dumfries all agreeing to the contract. If one municipality does not go forward, the cost will go up for others.