Niagara anti-racism association calls for reduction in police budget
Organization wants welfare-check calls directed away from police
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Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association is calling on regional councillors to press Niagara Regional Police Service to reduce its budget by shifting welfare checks and mental-health calls that do not require an armed response to a civilian service.
The anti-racism association sent the letter to councillors in advance of their budget committee meeting Thursday, where the NRP will present its 2023 operating budget of $168.3 million.
The civilian-dispatched service would specialize in handling specific calls for assistance.
“It would not only be fiscally responsible but also morally and socially responsible to shift calls that don’t need an armed response to a civilian service specialized in those issues,” said Saleh Waziruddin, an executive committee member of the anti-racism association, in a news release.
Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association was founded in the summer of 2018 and campaigns for police reforms, addresses issues such as employment equity, hosts guest speakers and supports individuals under racist attacks.
The type of calls referenced in the letter comprises 8.3 per cent of the NRP’s total call volume, according to the service’s 2020 annual report, the letter said.
“This would be a significant reduction of the operating budget by shifting funding to an alternative service that not only would cost less but would not involve police in social problems, something they themselves say is not their purpose,” Waziruddin said.
Waziruddin said not all welfare checks and mental health calls require an armed response, and incidents can escalate dangerously and unnecessarily with police involvement.
The letter referenced a Special Investigations Unit reporton the police shooting death of a 52-year-old Black man in Port Colborne on Sept. 4, 2022.
The SIU report cleared the police officers involved of misconduct, saying the police response “may not have been perfect, but no such undertaking ever is.”
“We need to do better than ‘may not have been perfect,’ especially where our lives are at stake,” Waziruddin said
“It would be irresponsible, not just financially but also morally and socially, to not ask for a different operating budget proposal that shifts welfare check and mental health calls to a civilian service specialized in those issues.”
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