Police budget cut responsible for issues impacting the city

By Lethbridge Herald on July 21, 2023.

Editor:

A recent letter to the editor of the Lethbridge Herald the person had complained of the lack of police presence in the downtown area of Lethbridge.

 Do they not remember that a couple of years ago Lethbridge city councillors decided that the Lethbridge Police Service was being over funded and they cut their bueget by $1 million?

What do they think that happened to the LPS then as far a hiring new recruits for policing? 

All aspects of the LPS then had to make do with fewer people to patrol the streets, respond to accidents, burglaries, break-ins, deal with domestic disputes, and ultimately deal with the homeless and the downtown drug addicts.

Did the residents and business people of the downtown complain that their taxes did not increase at the time? No.

 But now that there has been an increase in the problems with the homeless and drug addicts downtown they all cry foul. Well, it takes time to train and then hire new police recruits after having not being able to due to the $1 millio cut to their budget previously. 

The LPS is now in the process of training and will be hiring new police officers later this year. 

But the process takes time. Had the city councillors who cut the LPS budget had given any real thought to their action the downtown businesses and residents may not be having the problems to the extent they are now with the homeless and the drug addicts.

 The shortsighted councillors are the ones to blame for the shortage of police presence in the downtown. Definitely not the LPS for the shortage of police patrols. The LPS does a magnificent job with the staff that they presently have and it will get better in the future with the new recruits. Also the civilian staff taking over some of the administrative jobs that some officers are now doing will free up more police officers for out of the office duties.

Bernard Tichler

Lethbridge