A Facebook group is hoping to change the budget for the Belleville Police Service.
The group, Belleville Peaceful Streets Network has almost 400 members and is asking council during budget discussions on Monday to make some changes to the police budget.
The group is asking for council to defund the police by 10 per cent, their budget reduced by $100,000, and a few other things.
Councillor Chris Malette told Quinte News he believes there is some common ground between the group, council and the police.
Council and the mayor received emails from the group with their request and Malette says they as a council can’t do much about the actual police budget because of the Police Services Act.
Come budget time, councillors receive the budget for the police as approved by the Police Services Board. Council does have the ability to ask questions about the police budget and can make the decision to send it back to the Board, but legally they cannot make any changes to the budget.
The group says the money would be better spent on services for the entire community.
Malette says the need for funding in community and social services isn’t far off.
Budget discussions are set to begin on Monday morning.
