Waterloo Regional Police Service asking for more funding for courthouse security

The Waterloo Regional Police Service is asking the province for help to keep courthouses safe. CTV’s Krista Simpson reports.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service are asking the province for more funding to help cover the cost of courthouse security.

According to the police, last year provincial grant money for court security and prisoner transportation was reduced while expectations increased.

“We do fund and support one of the largest courthouses in the province of Ontario, each and every day,” Chief Mark Crowell told reporters on Wednesday.

Regional police are responsible for security at the Waterloo Region Courthouse on Frederick Street in downtown Kitchener, as well as the nearby Provincial Offenses Courthouse on Queen Street North. Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) said that will come at a cost of about $10.3 million in 2026.

The provincial government provides funding for court security and prisoner transportation, but last year regional police said they received nearly $600,000 less than the year before. Their grant of $4,730,405 will cover less than half or the projected costs for 2026.

Regional police said last year the province also asked police services to enhance measures at courthouses, including additional screening with metal detectors and security wands when people enter and a security presence on every floor, with armed officers readily available to respond when necessary.

“The budget allocation from the province does not sufficiently fund what the provincial responsibility is,” Ian McLean, chair of the Waterloo Regional Police Service Board, explained during Wednesday’s meeting.

“But we don’t have a choice of providing the level of services and protection and oversight at the courthouse. We have to provide it whether the provincial funding is there or not.”

Regional police said over the past several months there have been three bomb threats at the courthouse. All three incidents were later determined to be unfounded.

There were also two incidents in July where people facing charges broke the glass in the prisoner’s box. One even managed to scale the box and ran at the Justice before they were subdued, police said.

WRPS say in 2023, while there were fewer people at the courthouse due to the pandemic, staffing was moved away from the courthouse.

But since then, volumes have rebounded and there’s been a need to add more security staff. In the 2026 budget, WRPS factored in two new sworn officers plus five new special constables, all dedicated to court security, at an added cost of two million dollars.

The police board voted unanimously to send a letter to the deputy solicitor general, asking that the funding to WRPS be reviewed.

“We’re hoping that, through partnership with the province and the funding mechanisms that come to our region, that there can be some reconciliation with the funds that are currently through the operating budget, that the board has supported and that we can find some more predictability within this calendar year, but also for future years and planning,” Chief Crowell said.

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police has also been calling for a funding model for the court security and prisoner transportation grant, where a base level is guaranteed for all areas. The organization would also like to see incremental adjustments tied directly to things like a jurisdiction’s volume and complexity of court security events, number and cumulative duration of prisoner transports and specialized security requirements.