If you can believe it, the Vancouver Police Department will not ask city council in the next operating budget discussions to fund the hiring of more cops.

Huh?

Never have I heard a municipal police chief or a superintendent of an RCMP detachment say they don't need more cops. Put it in the budget request and see what happens is usually how it goes.

But in this year's budget go-round, Police Chief Jim Chu says the VPD will not ask for an increase to his force of more than 1,300 men and women.

Why?

His answer wasn't totally clear when he took reporters' questions last week about a myriad of issues. Media scrums don't allow for elaboration.

But here's what he said. "In our upcoming budgets, we are not asking for an increase in authorized strength," he said.

Why?

"Well, it's always about affordability and what we need, and we will tell city council that we need a certain level of policing and that's what we'll inform them on. And right now we're not asking for an increase in authorized strength."

The reasons could be that crime is down in almost all categories and so are calls for police service. Or maybe council's approval in 2008 to hire 96 officers was sufficient. But here's where I begin scratching my head.

In May, I spoke to the chief about several issues, including the need for more police. At the time, Chu explained that even though crime was on a downward trend in the city and across the country, the department needed more cops.

"Our property crime rates are close to double what you see in other major cities like Toronto and Montreal," he said in May. "The other thing is, with Canadian legislation and court decisions, the average case is so much more complicated and time consuming to proceed with than it's ever been."

He also said in the interview the VPD wanted to implement the so-called metro teams, which could see up to 35 officers working nights to respond to busy spots in the city. "We're hoping there's a turnaround in the city finances to bring those officers on board," he said. What Chu didn't mention is that city manager Penny Ballem in September 2009 said that all city departments, including the Vancouver Police Department, were told not to expect an increase to their budgets in 2010.

At the time, Ballem said the freeze in budgets was related to the city facing a $61.3 million shortfall if it was to achieve a balanced operating budget in 2010.

So has Ballem again told Chu not to bother asking for more cops for 2011? Or has the VPD reached a point where it has enough men and women in uniform to police the city?

I hope to get an answer from one or both of them soon.

Meanwhile, Mayor Gregor Robertson, who is also chair of the Vancouver Police Board, is heaping nothing but praise on the VPD and the reductions in crime.

But Robertson has also added to the confusion on whether the VPD needs more cops. This is what the mayor said when asked whether more officers were needed in the city.

"The goal of the VPD to make Vancouver the safest city in Canada is a laudable goal--a goal that I think Vancouverites support. And until we get there, we need to continue making the appropriate investments to drive these crimes down. So we are committed at city council--as we've demonstrated over these past two budgets--to continue to fund the police."

mhowell@vancourier.com