Chief of Police for the Belleville Police Service Mike Callaghan. (Photo: Quinte News)
Management of the Belleville Police Service will be asking the Police Service’s Board to add more front-line officers next year.
At Thursday’s meeting the board saw statistics showing calls for police service rose by 725 or by 12% in a recent 3 month period.
Chief of Police Mike Callaghan told the board that something has to give.
“We’re in a situation where we’ve tried for so many years now to keep the lid on our staffing but we’re just not able to keep up with the call for service demand.”
Chair of the Police Services Board Jack Miller and Mayor Mitch Panciuk agreed that the police department needed more personnel as the city’s population continues to grow quickly.
Belleville’s population has increased by 10% in the past 6 years alone.
