Winnipeg Police Association president Moe Sabourin says people who are concerned about skyrocketing policing costs are not basing their opinion on facts.

Sabourin, whose union is in contract talks with the city, was responding to proposed provincial legislation that would give taxpayers some protection in arbitrated settlements with public sector unions.

The Pallister government says it plans to bring in legislation that would ensure government’s “ability to pay” is taken into consideration during contract talks. The Tories have still not released details of how the legislation would work. But among other things, it’s expected to force arbitrators to consider a government’s ability to pay during arbitrated settlements.

Coun. Scott Gillingham (St. James-Brooklands), who is also the newly-appointed chair of the city’s finance committee, said recently he hopes the legislation applies to municipalities like Winnipeg, too.

And for good reason. One of the city’s greatest cost drivers is the police budget. And close to 85% of that budget is made up of salaries and benefits. Since police officer contracts are often determined by arbitrators when negotiated settlements can’t be reached – contracts that usually end up favouring the police union – it’s no wonder Gillingham would like the proposed provincial changes to apply to the city, too.

Sabourin, not surprisingly, is against that. He said he doesn’t believe arbitrators should be forced to consider taxpayers’ ability to pay. He prefers the city just cut the police union a blank cheque like it has been over the past decade or more.

In fact, he believes it’s a myth that policing costs in Winnipeg are unsustainable.

“The people that are saying that policing is not affordable are basing that on feeling and not on facts,” said Sabourin.

Well, Moe, let’s give you a few facts.

Between 2005 and 2015, the Winnipeg Police Service’s operating costs more than doubled from $127 million to $261 million, according to the WPS’s audited statements.

That’s a 106% hike over 10 years, or an average annual increase of 7.5%. How’s that for a fact?

Doesn’t sound very sustainable to me. That’s nearly four times the rate of inflation.

Even when you adjust that amount for population growth, the cost increases are still triple the rate of inflation.

According to the WPS, the per capita cost of policing in Winnipeg has increased from $195 per resident in 2005 to a staggering $363 in 2015. That’s an average annual increase of 6.4%.

Is that your idea of sustainable, Moe?

So why have policing costs gone up so much? Labour costs, mostly. Salary increases, benefit costs hikes, soaring overtime and pension adjustments. In 2015, well over half of constables were paid more than $100,000, according to the city’s compensation disclosure documents.

But that’s not all. Taxpayers are paying for more cops, too.

The police complement has increased 17% over the past 10 years. In 2005, there were 1,240 police officers on the payroll. By 2015, that grew to 1,451, according to WPS annual reports.

And that’s not the police service’s “authorized complement,” either. Those are the actual numbers.

To be fair, calls for service have grown substantially during that period. But the police reported crime rate during those 10 years has also decreased. And police have reduced officer hours for traffic enforcement as police brass rely increasingly on photo enforcement.

Even when you account for population growth, Winnipeg has far more officers on the payroll today than 10 years ago.

In 2005, there was one police officer for every 539 residents, according to the police’s annual report. In 2015, that ratio was 1/504.

In fact, Winnipeg has the second most police officers per capita among major cities in Canada. In 2015, Winnipeg had 200 officers per 100,000 people, according to Statistics Canada. Only Montreal had more at 233 per 100,000.

So no, the current rate of spending on policing in Winnipeg is clearly not sustainable. And that’s not based on anyone’s “feelings.” It’s based on cold, hard facts.