Hamilton Police Service (HPS) officially presented its budget to Hamilton City Council last Tuesday, with a 6.81 per cent tax-funded increase, representing a net total operating budget of $239 million.
Hamilton’s Chief of Police Frank Bergen explained to Council that, even before they opened their book to start the 2026 budget, they had to start with at least a 4.2 per cent increase because of collective agreement obligations.
“As a people-first organization, 93% of our budget supports our members, the officers and civilian professionals who deliver police services, customer service, and calm within many communities every day,” said Bergen.
One of the other investments that Hamilton Police plan to make in the 2026 budget is the creation of a dedicated Intimate Partner Violence Unit.
Bergen told Council, “Dedicated units with subject matter experts have resulted in stronger support for victims, enhanced offender management, better investigative outcomes, and more effective responses.”
He added that some police services in Ontario have had Intimate Partner Violence units for about 20 years.
The creation of a dedicated unit was proposed in the 2025 budget process but was eventually cut to reduce costs.
Hamilton Police have also proposed the expansion of their Core Patrol model, where officers proactively patrol an area, to the city’s other two divisions.
Bergen said, “Three per cent of our time is proactive. We are held again to a reactive model. We have to be creative. We have to shift that. We have to have officers on foot, on bicycles, to be visible, to engage with people where they are.”
The police budget was questioned by some councillors, particularly Councillor Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2 – Downtown Hamilton).
Kroetsch claimed that it is a “fact” that “increasing police budgets is not proven to make communities safer.”
He also noted that the police budget makes up the largest portion of the city’s budget and called for “fiscal prudence.”
It should be noted that Kroetsch has tweeted multiple times in support of defunding the police and also supported a group called Defund HPS, which was led by former Member of Provincial Parliament Sarah Jama.
Defund HPS called for an immediate 50 per cent reduction to the HPS budget.
Their protests also went further, calling for the police to be “abolished and dismantled.”
Kroetsch also serves on the Hamilton Police Service Board and voted against the police budget, along with Council-appointed citizen board member Dr. Anjali Menezes, who is a family physician with a background in anti-racism.
But Bergen explained that the police budget makes up a large portion of the municipal budget simply because funding police is one of a city’s biggest responsibilities.
“Police services in Ontario have very limited avenues to generate revenue outside of property taxes because the legislation simply does not allow it,” he said.
“These are pressures we are required to manage, but unlike many other sectors, we do not have the tools to offset these costs.”
Bergen further explained the importance of the police in a Jan. 31 opinion piece that was published in The Hamilton Spectator.
In the article, Bergen wrote that increasing Core Patrol from two to six officers in Downtown Hamilton was linked to about a 10 per cent drop in calls for service and reported crime in the area.
Bergen also cited a 2024 study in the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice by Martin Andresen and colleagues that showed that “higher levels of police are generally associated with lower crime severity” and a 2019 study by Simon Demers in the same journal, which found that “increases in police strength were associated with reductions in crime, particularly property crime.”
Bergen wrote, “Policing is not a cure-all. Police cannot solve homelessness, addiction or mental health challenges on their own. But policing does play a critical role in preventing harm, managing disorder and creating the stability needed for other supports and services to succeed.”
“Feeling safe isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s what lets communities thrive. When people feel comfortable on the streets, businesses do better, public spaces get used, and neighbourhoods grow stronger. Making that happen takes more than just being seen — it takes evidence-based strategies, careful deployment and solid partnerships across the city,” he concluded.
It remains to be seen if any members of City Council will propose cuts to the police budget during upcoming meetings.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
