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Edmonton police are considering slashing services — including dispatching officers to gas ‘n’ dash crimes and non-criminal drunk and mental health calls — to make up for a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.

Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht has warned that his department “can’t be all things to all people all the time and still have increased calls for service, and no increase in budget.”

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City council approved a $39.2-million funding increase to the Edmonton Police Service three-year operating budget in December, $36.1 million short of what the police had asked for.

The police service has already come up with millions in savings through small changes, like keeping police cars in service longer, cutting overtime and finding ways to outsource duties to other agencies. But Knecht warned the rest of the shortfall won’t be made up for so easily and the “public is going to feel the impact.”

After surveying citizens and police officers this spring, the department identified six kinds of calls respondents deemed less important and ones that the service could cut back on or consider outsourcing, including:

• Mental health calls where there is no criminal offence

• Off-hours bylaw complaints