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DEPUTATION BY MICHAEL SPEERS REGARDING MOTION 24-G-010, 2024 BUSINESS PLAN AND BUDGET - BARRIE POLICE SERVICE
Councillor, G. Harvey declared that to remain in compliance with his statutory obligations under Section 17(3) of the Police Services Act, he was unable to participate in the discussions or vote on the foregoing matter. He did not participate in the discussion or vote on the matter. He left the Council Chamber.
Michael Speers provided a deputation concerning the 2024 Budget and Business Plan related to the Barrie Police Service (BPS) Budget.
Mr. Speers expressed his belief that policing is archaic and inherently racist and is an institution used to protect property and the status quo. He commented that, in his opinion, the police have mistakenly become the default organization for solving society's issues and problems with a massive budget that squeezes dollars away from more worthy projects, services, resources, and agencies. He suggested that they should be defunded, and the money used to fund initiatives that will prevent crime.
Mr. Speers commented that the BPS’s budget has increased by 45% in the past decade despite Barrie being ranked 250 in a recent list of Canada's most livable cities. He discussed past meetings regarding residents not feeling safe in the downtown area anymore. He questioned why increase policing if it is not making the city safer, and why we are giving the police so much money as it seems like it might not be working. Mr. Speers advised that he was advocating for a cut to the BPS’s budget of 10%.
Mr. Speers discussed a study that found no correlation between police spending and crime rates in Ontario. He advised that the study was published in an academic journal called Canadian Public Policy, examining a decade of data that found no association between increasing spending and reducing crime rates. He commented that it backs up previous studies, including a review by the Washington Post in 2020 examining spending in the US. State and local police over the past 60 years.
Mr. Speers asked that Council consider the community concerns over the cost of policing seriously, does the BPS’s budget need more scrutiny at the board level, explore the role and function of police in our community, and whether police need to respond to overdoses or unhouse people in distress, or people experiencing mental health crises.
Mr. Speers concluded that the city budgets have starved the people of Barrie for far too long and that this must change financially and socially.