WRPS looking for community thoughts on staffing, crime ahead of 2027 budget talks

With budget season right around the corner across the region, Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) is pushing to hear from residents across the local community about their thoughts on what they’d like to see in the police portion of the regional budget.

It comes as the local police service is preparing for a series of public input sessions over the coming months, with regional police saying that it’s looking to get some discussion going on a few key areas.

“The annual budget serves as our roadmap for investing in public safety and community engagement, in particular, how the Service plans to respond to growing population pressures, staffing challenges, and the increasing complexity of crime,” said WRPS in a statement.

“Developing the annual police budget is a key component of the Police Service Board’s mandate under the Community Safety and Policing Act and a critical step in ensuring future service delivery can meet community expectations.”

WRPS added that this can only be achieved through “open and respectful collaboration with local partners,” leading to discussions and meetings like the public input sessions that are on the horizon.

There will be two virtually held public input sessions over the coming months, with one in October and the other in November, including:

• Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m.
• Monday, Nov. 30, 2026, from 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.

“Providing residents with meaningful opportunities to share their perspectives is essential,” said WRPS Board Chair Ian McLean.

“We value the voices of our community and look forward to hearing their priorities and ideas for strengthening public safety.”

Residents who’d like to attend can do so by filling out a delegation form on the WRPS website and indicating which date they’d like to attend.

They’ll then be able to speak and make a presentation for a maximum of 10 minutes, before a period where Police Service Board members can ask questions in return.

For those unable to attend, written submissions can also be sent in, with a limit of 2,000 characters being permitted. Those submissions should be sent to board@wrps.on.ca.