Rhino's Ramblings - The Police Budget Part Deux

By Robert Thomas - Opinion/Commentary

So how far did you get acquiring more information about the Moose Jaw Police Service's (MJPS) budget? And why is it so important to get the information?

These are a couple of questions I have been asked over the past few weeks since I started asking more specific questions about how the MJPS is spending yours and my property tax dollars.

Spending, which unlike the three largest centres in this province, is in my opinion clouded in a lot of mystery. Mysteries, if you look at what the other larger (and even smaller cities) provide, not necessary.

We have many residents and businesses now clamoring to know what the MJPS intends to do to crack down on petty crimes which for many are skyrocketing.

While at the same time there are groups looking for less stringent policing out there pointing to crime being driven by such things as homelessness, addiction, mental illness and marginalization.

It all leaves the top brass at the MJPS holding at least one closed door meeting with those who want a crackdown while at the same time trying to appease those looking for a velvet hand on the issue of petty crimes.

There has been talk about “new initiatives" by the MJPS to deal with the issues but there are no real details.

Just funding requests made behind closed doors to the Moose Jaw Police Board of Commissioners which we are all suppose to agree with.

Initiatives few, if any details, have been made public.

It leaves me asking more than a few questions about the new initiatives first and foremost exactly what are they?

And followed closely how are they justified?

Is the MJPS going to target narcotics crimes or the crimes associated with drug use?

Or are they going to target something else?

In my opinion we just don’t know.

When I asked Mayor Clive Tolley about it he said at the time he was unaware of what could be released publicly but he would bring the issue up at the next meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners.

It's a response I am hoping to get back soon.

And then you have other communities such as Prince Albert who give out so many details members of the media tell me there really is no need to ask questions as what the Prince Albert Police Service publicly provides is best put as overkill.

You know the same Prince Albert so much of the City apparatchik including the MJPS points to when it comes to funding.

So what about Moose Jaw? And why is it so important to get these budget numbers?

Simply put the budget breakdown should show not only such things as the amount spent on wages but also what initiatives or areas the MJPS is targeting in such areas as narcotics and the petty crimes and worse attached to them.

It's something more than a handful of businesses and residents want to see addressed not now but yesterday.

For those of you who are not aware of it there are really a whole bunch of different worlds out there.

It’s not just the rah, rah everything is great in Moose Jaw world out there.

If it was we should be firing police officers - and not hiring more - but instead using the funds for such things as snow clearing in many citizen's minds.

Being opaque might publicly hide really what is going on beneath the surface in Canada's most Notorious City but at the same time it does very little in my opinion to build confidence.

It leaves unanswered if the ever increasing demands for policing are being properly delivered.

It may well be necessary, but the problem is there is nothing public being released to prove it.

People also ask me is it really true the MJPS asked the Regina Police Service (RPS) to investigate the sources of leaks MJ Independent had for many of these columns about the MJPS?

Yeah it's true. Chief Rick Bourassa is not overly happy I used my skills I learnt so long ago in Novosibirsk to crack the granite tower. But as I told the RPS journalism is not a crime.

But here is the killer I used fairly decent encryption and coding to protect those who did provide me with inside information.

Information which included more than a few not publicly released portions of the said budget I am requesting more details about.

Do I think it is scurrilous stuff?

No I don’t but in fairness to Moose Jaw residents it is information that should be released especially since PA, Regina and Saskatoon have already done so.

On a larger note the MJPS did have a delegation of police officers from Ukraine stop in a couple of years back as part of a program to modernize that country's police.

Part of those Canadian government programs is trying to get police forces there, in a foreign country, to publicly release budget details far greater than the MJPS so far have right here in Moose Jaw.

It’s a move designed to show Ukrainians their police is moving away from corruption.

It might even make a great question to ask in Kyiv someday.

I think you can see the irony I am pointing out.

So where do you go from here?

Well it is just a wait and see approach to see what Mayor Tolley is able to get released.

And oh yeah there is an FOI out there floating around as I was told when I dropped it off - I am number one this year.

Please stand by….