Edmonton police told to make do with smaller budget increase

Edmonton police will have to make donext year with less money than they asked for.

The police commission had asked the city to increase the department's budget by $48.6 million over the next three years.

Mayor Don Iveson instead proposed a motion that would give the department an additional $9 million over that same time period.

That motion passed at city council this morning.

Police chief Rod Knecht said the money won't go far and the department may have to makecuts.

"So, you're actually going to see one or two more police officers on the street for the entire city at any given time. So not much of an impact at all as far as resourcing over the next three years."

Knecht said it's not yet clear what areas of policing will be impacted but it could involve some of the department's partnerships with social agencies.

"The chief is going to have to make difficult decisions, and that's his job," Iveson said after the meeting. "Those are the same kinds of decisions that city staff have been making in preparation for this budget."

The chief said he is pleased, however, that city budgets now look at three years of funding rather than one year at a time.

He said that makes planning easier and will allow the department to hire and prioritize accordingly.