Curb police costs; look to the sky

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/02/2016 (2997 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Police Service needs a new set of eyes — its helicopter’s thermal imaging goggles, in effect, that can track a suspect or a piece of evidence night or day. The police service says its helicopter won’t fly without the camera, and it will cost $360,000 to buy a new one.

It’s time to ground Air 1, then, at least temporarily until a review of its value is done. That audit has been triggered by the provincial government, which pays to keep the black bird in the air. In 2014, that cost alone was $1.75 million. The City of Winnipeg wants to split the new camera’s tab with the province. Winnipeggers are still waiting to hear what the provincial government thinks about that.

Maybe that review, called by Attorney General Gord Mackintosh five-plus years after the $3.5-million purchase and first flight of Air 1, will give some clear answers about its usefulness. Under agreement, the provincial government covers the annual operational costs, which includes the salaries and benefits of the flight unit’s staff, the costs of operating and maintaining the helicopter and the hangar lease.

Winnipeggers can often look to the skies to see the helicopter overhead, but whether it is worth its price is at least obscure and legitimately debatable.

Air 1 has struggled to get to the 1,000 hours of flight time, a goal set when it was bought in 2010. In 2014, it had its wings clipped by 153 hours due to weather, staffing issues and maintenance needs, and was in the air only 901 hours, the last published annual report said. (Chief Devon Clunis recently sent a notice to the WPS members that in 2015, the helicopter finally got above 1,000 hours flying time.)

As for usefulness, the number of calls it responded to fell significantly and it was “instrumental’ in fewer apprehensions of suspects. That means that the cost per bad guy rose.

Is that a meaningful measure — dividing the number of flight hours or the arrests by the annual operating cost — of the helicopter’s value? That is the question that has been asked for the last few years and now Mr. Mackintosh wants it answered, too. It is something the City of Winnipeg’s police board should have asked for before now, but having four full years of in-air experience will make for a fuller examination. And the provincial government obviously has more of an investment to consider, especially as the yearly bill rises and especially, now, with the decision pending on whether to outfit the helicopter with a pricey new camera.

There are multiple budgets tapped to keep it in the sky, but all that cash comes from the taxpayer. And yet, no one at the police board’s public meetings has asked whether the police service, the city and residents are getting value.

But here’s something city council ought to consider: Police expenses are rising, largely because of the rising salary and benefit costs. The city constantly cries poor to the province, demands greater cost sharing of the federal government for infrastructure projects, but has not flexed its own muscle to control expenses of its police force. Crime in Winnipeg is falling, steadily and steeply — down 37 per cent from 2009 to 2013.

There should be some relief in that for the taxpayer, at least some sign that expenses are being held in check and money spent wisely. A police service will always petition for more tools. A helicopter is a luxury, a “want’ and not a “need.’ In the same category, the purchase without notice to the city by police of an armoured vehicle for high risk operations.

The WPS should make some choices, trim its wish list. The crime rate is expected to fall 25 per cent by 2019. Police Chief Devon Clunis ought to be able to show how rising costs, if not cut, can be curbed. No one has demanded fewer boots on the ground. He can, however, look to the skies.