Policing Costs and Accountability Up for Discussion At UBCM
By 250 News
Monday, September 28, 2009 04:00 AM
Prince George, B.C.- The Union of B.C. Municipalities will start welcoming delegates from all over the province to it’s annual convention today in Vancouver. The real work will get underway on Wednesday and one of the key items up for discussion is policing.
The contract between the RCMP and the Province is under negotiation for possible renewal in 2012, and municipalities have some very real concerns. Among those concerns is affordability as information gathered by the UBCM indicates that while the population in the province has grown, the cost of policing has far outstripped the population growth rate, or the rates of inflation. Communities say that with the complexity of criminal investigations, these costs will not be sustainable.
Municipalities like Prince George, (with a population in excess of 15,000) which have an urban contract with the RCMP, pay 90% of the cost of the police service.
There are other costs the UBCM is concerned about. In its discussion paper developed for the convention, the UBCM says due to the increased complexity of crimes, there is a growing trend to assign additional costs to local government that are not identified in the RCMP contract. “For example, local governments are being charged additional investigation fees where specialized policing services are needed, such as the District Major Crime Unit. Depending on the complexity of the case, these costs could be as high as $1,000,000. Local governments are also being charged for new technology that is needed to make policing more effective. For example, the cost of putting computers in police cars and the future maintenance of this technology is a cost that local governments are required to pay. This is only a small example of an increasing range of technological changes that might be introduced into policing in future years.”
The UBCM has conducted a survey of municipalities, and the results indicate that while 85% would like to renew the contract with the RCMP, there are serious concerns about affordability:
“Approximately 64% of the municipalities policed under a direct RCMP contract suggested that police costs were not affordable and 31% suggested that the costs were somewhat affordable.”
The Policy paper presents a number of recommendations which should be part of the contract negotiations, on the matter of affordability, the UBCM presents the following:
- The federal and provincial government provide increased funding for mental health treatment, drug rehabilitation, homelessness, and crime prevention initiatives at the community level.
- A study be undertaken by the federal and provincial government to assess the benefits derived from a national/provincial police force today given the increased concerns related to organized crime and international security.
- The federal and provincial government consider increasing direct funding for police services and change the way police services are financed.
- The federal and provincial government pay for the delivery of all regional/integrated police services.
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Posted by: bitter on September 28 2009 8:23 AM