Local RCMP Look to Ease Staffing Crunch
Prince George, B.C.- There is a staffing issue at the Prince George Detachment of the RCMP.
The City’s contract with the RCMP is for a maximum of 128 members. The City only budgets for 121, and with officers on maternity, paternity, medical leave or on the verge of being transferred out, keeping 121 members on active duty is becoming more and more of a challenge.
There are two problems contributing to the staffing crunch says Staff Sergeant Perry Smith. First, it is harder to recruit officers to come to the north, the other problem is what the RCMP call a soft vacancy. That’s a post which seems vacant because the person is on leave. It used to be that another officer could be hired to cover that post, but not anymore. Now, it has to be what the Mounties call a hard vacancy, meaning it is vacant, period.
That leaves the local detachment in a quandary. There are, typically, 7 or eight soft vacancies every year, and with no way to temporarily fill those spots, the local detachment is left short staffed.
That’s why the detachment is calling for the City to boost the contract to a maximum 135 members. That doesn’t mean there will ever be 135 (which would require significant budget increases), the detachment would be budgeted for 121 and the commanding officer would have to manage that budget. It would mean that extra bodies could be hired because on paper there would be hard vacancies, when in reality, the hire may be filling a spot of someone who is on some sort of leave.
Comments
Main problem is the RCMP will rarely hire locally for members to serve in their own community. I can think of a lot of good local candidates that would gladly fill the vacant positions, but its not politically correct… they have to be brought in from elsewhere and meet the quotas.
One solution might be to have a local force that compliments the RCMP, but doesn’t have the training to conduct hard crime investigations, so serves in an auxiliary role doing the foot patrols and what not.
With all the crime we have here, come on city bring the boys in….we need more boys, and less trips to China!!
Thought the shiny new overpriced cop shop would attract more.
I was told local candidates cannot serve in their own community after they first graduate just in case of conflict of interests etc. After serving 2 or more years they can then apply to their hometown if so wish.
I think most recruits after graduation from depot is sent to serve at least 3 years – not by choice where they serve and post out later. Maybe I am wrong?
Instead of wasting money we should have considered a municipal police service in stead of the RCMP. Lots of local policing isn’t being done by the RCMP. We sorely lack in enforcement of many laws and regulations in this city. Then again maybe the local detachment is too top heavy, a few too many stripes and not enough street level cops out working the streets and getting things looked after. Just something to consider.
If I’m not mistaken, new member must serve 5 years before being eligible to transfer in to their “home” detachment.
As for a municipal police force instead of the RCMP, would we really want to take on the cost of providing training that is comparable to what RCMP Depot provides? And really, the only way to save money on policing is to either have fewer cops or cops who are paid substantially less than RCMP officers. Neither option has much appeal when training, preparedness, policing resources, and professionalism are hallmarks of a top notch police force.
Wonder how much overlap we have with the Regional District RCMP, and the drug squad on 22nd Avenue. The City of Prince George may budget for 121 officers, however there certainly are a lot more RCMP in the City of Prince George.
I think that the Community Policing function should be transferred to the Fire Department. They have sufficient time to fill this role, and this would free up 2 or 3 positions that could be filled with RCMP.
If we were to reduce the tourist bureau, and IPG by two people each. This would free up enough funds to hire a few more RCMP. Its a matter of priorities. Could probably get a few bodies from the Bylaw services also.
Start making the punishment fit the crime and perhaps we wouldn’t need so many police.
Valid point Axman.
If IPG were to disappear tomorrow, would anybody miss it? There’s a million dollars right there.
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