Ottawa police finish 2011 in the black

Ottawa police finished the 2011 fiscal year with a surplus thanks in part to auctioning off old property and evidence stored in the police warehouse.

The auctions brought in almost $1 million last year, which helped offset the almost $750,000 in extra costs from a hike in gas prices.

The surplus was about $26,000.

Overtime and court time also put a $248,000 dent in the Ottawa police budget. The overtime was blamed on protests such as the Occupy Ottawa movement and a few at the Congolese Embassy.

Police also worked a lot of overtime on five murder investigations.

Those extra costs were also levelled off with five per cent fewer false alarms leading to a $271,000 surplus and improved performance of the police vehicles, which led to a surplus of $300,000.

The complete financial report is available online.