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Dangerous underfunding of the city’s police service is leaving large areas of the city with a skeleton crew at night, says Edmonton’s new councillor-elect.

“Between 3:30 a.m. and almost 8 a.m., there are only eight or nine police officers working in the whole (southeast division),” Det. Moe Banga, who won the Ward 12 byelection Monday night with 2,359 votes, said Tuesday.

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“If there’s one major incident going, the nine officers will be tied up. We need to make sure there is somebody always out there to address the issues that arise for community safety,” he said.

“We need to make sure there are ample resources that are deployed where they need to be.”

City council has struggled with increasing police budgets for several years and drew a line last fall, limiting the increase to population growth and inflation. They also promised to go cap in hand with police to the province to ask for more help.