The news that the Bail Safety Program will continue to receive funding for another year came as a pleasant surprise, says the city’s chief of police.
The Ministry of the Attorney General has considered ending the pilot project and had only scheduled to continue funding until March 2013. The program, which many municipalities use, is aimed at keeping victims of domestic violence safe.
Thunder Bay Police Service Chief J.P. Levesque received a letter from the ministry late Tuesday afternoon saying that they would be extending funding for another year. He said he’s glad he doesn’t have to worry about funding for the program for another year but hoped it could be a permanent addition.
“I was concerned,” Levesque said Wednesday. “If I receive word next year that they are cutting the funding then I’m going to have to go to the police service board and ask if we’re going to fund this or cut the program. Then it would become a burden on the city.”
Levesque estimated that the funding is around $100,000 and covers the salary of a single officer. The city has the highest rate domestic violence rate in the province with more than 3,000 incidents per year.
Levesque said if there’s any city that needs to have the Bail Safety program it’s Thunder Bay.
