By Taylor MacPherson

Cannabis costs still not clear: Police Chief

Jan 15, 2018 | 11:00 AM

The financial implications cannabis legalization will have on Canadian police departments is still unknown, according to Prince Albert’s chief of police.

Chief Troy Cooper presented a report outlining the potential policing costs to the city’s Board of Police Commissioners this morning. The regional police service in York, Ont. estimated the new legislation will add two per cent to their annual operations budget, Cooper said. Although the Saskatchewan Government is footing the bill to train officers on drug-impaired driving enforcement, Cooper said the real cost of legalization is still difficult to estimate.

“They left out a lot of the costs associated to court and prosecutions, and that’s a real concern for us locally,” Cooper said. “There will be a cost implication to the legislation, but we’re not sure what it’s going to look like yet.”

Although police training costs are covered by the Saskatchewan Government, Cooper said the financial implications will likely go far beyond the specialized training (which will be given to roughly half of front-line officers). Overtime costs will likely be high, Cooper said, and the cost of the drug impairment testing kits has still not been accounted.

The legalization of marijuana means police will no longer be required to enforce laws prohibiting simple possession or consumption, but Cooper said he expects the savings on that front will be minimal. Although possession will no longer be criminal, the police chief said he expects policing costs will still rise.

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“There’s going to be some impact operationally, but we think that because there’s more availability of a drug, there’s more likelihood that there’s going to be enforcement requirements,” he said.

In his report Cooper noted the federal government committed $81 million over the next five years to assist law enforcement agencies. Although federal support would be welcome, Cooper said there has not yet been any communication from Ottawa on how the money will be distributed. The pending legalization has made this year’s budget very difficult to predict, but Cooper said he’s hoping the questions will all be answered by next year.

“We’ll enforce whatever becomes law and regulation, but the cost implications aren’t clear,” Cooper said. “By 2019 we should have a better understanding and we can budget more appropriately.”

Mayor wants a third of profits

Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne said he’s supporting Regina’s Mayor Michael Fougere, who recently gave an interview calling on the province to share a third of all revenue from sales of legal marijuana with municipalities.

“We’re all different sizes; we’re all going to have different expenses, different needs and demands,” Dionne said. “He believes that [a third of cannabis retail profits] will cover it, and so do I.”

The mayor said a third of the profits could potentially provide benefits to cities beyond covering the basic costs associated with legalization. If there is money left over, Dionne said he would like to see it used to add more officers to the force, in order to increase enforcement even further.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TaylorMacP