Police services board approved consultant's work to study how and where to expand, police using band-aid solutions to keep lights on
A consulting firm will be paid $168,500 to study the need for new buildings, and growth, of the Niagara Regional police.
The police services board today approved the work for Operation Research in Health, to guide the force's 10-year growth plan.
Deputy Chief Luigi Greco noted the Emergency Services Building is not meeting their needs anymore. "Also, our training unit is bursting at the seams, so to speak, with changes to the CSPA, introducing overlapping recruit intakes, maintaining all the regulated training throughout the year for all our officers, we just don't have the capacity."
He says for now they're using band-aid solutions to keep the lights on.
Board member Kevin Gibson understands concern over the use of tax money. "I've had people say 'Why does the police budget keep growing?' Because, we're growing, and the public has to understand that we also have to grow buildings, and they're not cheap."
A report shows the plan includes replacing the Niagara Falls and St. Catharines headquarters with a new building.
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