Calls for defunding police a hard sell in Peel where 94% of operating budget is committed to wages
Photo from The Pointer files
In Peel, and for many police forces across Canada, defunding is close to impossible as the vast majority of police budgets – 94 percent of the operating budget in Peel’s case – is committed to salaries and benefits.
The remaining six percent for PRP’s 2020 operating budget is allocated to new programs, including additional traffic safety blitzes and cyber crime initiatives. So any discussion around reallocating funding from the police to other services, such as mental health supports, can only involve six percent of the current operating budget.
Demands to defund the police have grown louder since the death of George Floyd at the end of May and the shooting of a Malton man by Peel officers on Saturday.
As Peel Regional Police prepare to enter discussions for its 2021 budget, almost all of the nearly $500 million allotted to the force, for salaries and benefits, can not be touched.
Published in The Pointer Brampton and The Pointer Mississauga on June 25, 2020
