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The Ottawa Police Services Board on Monday approved a 2016 draft budget that includes hiring 25 new officers, and at least two city councillors are already clamouring to see some of those officers devoted to traffic enforcement.

In a rare move, River ward Coun. Riley Brockington addressed the police board, on which he does not sit, as a public delegate. City council, on he does sit, can only approve or deny the budget. It cannot ask for amendments or specifications.

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“No issue is more apparent in River ward than the need to enforce speed of vehicles and address other traffic-related matters,” he said. “We need more boots on the ground to enforce speeding. This is a real safety issue.”

Calling the request for more officers an “urgent need,” Brockington said he wanted “assurances” before Dec. 9 — when council will be asked to approve the police service’s draft budget — that traffic will get a bigger slice of the pie.