The cost of absences and accommodations keeping Kingston Police officers from front-line duty is expected to hit more than $7 million next year — a situation one official compared to "shoveling money into a black hole."

That figure is more than double the $3.3 million increase the force is requesting in its entire 2026 budget, according to director of finance Scarlet Eyles.

"It's kind of like … a growing snowball going downhill, where the absences just keep increasing, and we're never actually able to invest in the police," she said.

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Forty officers are expected to be on long-term absences, receiving accommodations or on another type of leave next year, according to a budget report.

Eyles said covering their salaries and benefi

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