Drones, Tasers, body-worn cameras: What's in the London police budget ask

London police want to hire 97 new police officers in the next four years, but they also want to spend millions on new tools such as drones, Tasers, body-worn cameras and a new light-armoured vehicle, budget numbers show.  

The police budget is by far the largest spending chunk in the city budget, and the mayor has already said he will "unequivocally" support Chief Thai Truong's massive request for cash. 

If approved by the rest of city council, the $672-million police budget will pay for 189 new hires, including the 97 new officers. The mayor's budget calls, which still has to be revised and approved by city councillors, calls for an 8.8 per cent property tax hike in the first year. 

"The London Police Services Board request to hire 97 new officers over the next four years still puts us slightly below the provincial average in officers per capita," Mayor Josh Morgan said during his state of the city address last week. "Yes, the cost is significant and yes, it will result in a noticeable one-time impact on our property tax bill. But the cost of doing nothing is far greater." 

The $672-million budget ask is unprecedented and "the largest of its kind in London history," Morgan said.

CBC News has combed through the police budget and pulled out some highlights. Because it's a multi-year budget, the total cost over four years is listed: 

• $2.6 million for body-worn cameras, which police say will "promote transparency, accountability, and fairness in policing by reducing biases and misconduct." An additional $1.6 million for operational costs. 
• $1.5 million for a new digital evidence management system. 
• $1.4 million for in-car cameras and about $300,000 to operate them. 
• $42 million for a new training facility (this is Phase 1 of a three-phase building, with other money coming from the London fire department).
• $321,000 for smartphones for front-line officers.
• $1 million for new Tasers for every officer. London police say they're the only Ontario police force not regularly issuing Tasers to every regular patrol officer. 
• $70,000 for a new scenario-based training simulator.  
• $839,000 for new SUVs for the human trafficking unit, the drone unit, and foot patrol unit (one with a bike rack), as well as a new "incident command vehicle," plus thousands more in yearly operating costs. 
• $492,000 for a new light-armoured vehicle
• $113,000 for a new drone for the public order unit, plus thousands more to operate it every year.

Public consultations on the budget continue for the next few weeks before final approval by council in March. 

You can find more detail about the city budget here. 

London has the second-lowest per-capita number of police officers in Ontario, after Ottawa, and police response times here are among the worst in the province, according to police-provided budget documents. London spends just under the provincial average on police per capita.

In Toronto, there has been pushback against that city's police budget from a coalition of community groups calling for more money for social safety nets, city services and infrastructure. 

There has been no similar pushback here. In fact, the heads of London's major public institutions — including Western University, Fanshawe College, London Health Sciences Centre, and St. Joseph's Health Care — endorsed the budget request at an event for media on Wednesday. 

Earlier this week, the London Police Association — not surprisingly — also endorsed the budget, saying the service has been underfunded over the last decade.

"Mayor Josh Morgan, alongside Councillors Steve Lehman and Susan Stevenson, have forged a bold political path rejecting efforts from radical 'Defund The Police' zealots," the association wrote on X, formerly Twitter.