Barrie police spent more time responding to calls this summer even as the overall number of calls for service remained relatively consistent with previous years, according to data shown on Tuesday.
The service spent just over 4,724 hours on scene between May and the end of August, according to a triannual statistics update presented to the Barrie Police Services Board on Tuesday.
That's 1,617 more than the same period in 2025, and 827 higher than the previous high in the last five years of 3,897 set in 2024.
"We were looking at how much time we're spending out on the road, on-scene, for calls for service," Madison Charman, an organizational researcher with the service, said in her presentation to the board. "While our calls for service haven't really gone up, the time on those calls is increasing."
The figure captures the time frontline officers and special constables spend responding to calls on scene, but does not include the investigative and administrative work that can follow.
Charman said that the increase could be explained by calls becoming more complex and special constables having an increased capacity, especially downtown, although she prefaced that their hours within the service's Guardians program haven't risen drastically compared to 2025.
Board chair Greg Ferguson asked if the increased on-scene time is actually just the visible part of a much larger workload.
"It pales in comparison," Chief Rich Johnston responded, describing administrative time as a "dark figure."
Johnston said the service also spends substantial time on investigative and administrative work after an incident, including managing digital evidence like body-worn-camera footage.
He said the service is "constantly triaging and balancing" its resources, prioritizing higher-harm calls while some other calls wait longer.
The increase comes as the service is also projecting slightly higher-than-budgeted overtime costs this year.
A second quarter variance report circulated to board members on Tuesday shows overtime at 57.6 per cent of the annual budget halfway through 2026. The report says overtime is projected to finish slightly over budget, driven mostly by overtime related to occurrences.
The service is also projecting an overall operating deficit of nearly $2 million in 2026, citing several factors including increased contract positions, software investments and lower-than-expected grant funding. Finance staff has implemented a discretionary spending cutoff in August to help reduce the projected deficit.
