RCMP Work With Budget Constraints

Wednesday, February 16, 2011 09:36 PM

Prince George, B.C. - Despite being held to a staffing level of 121 RCMP officers last year by city funding, the Superintendent of the Prince George detachment says she was able to "put more boots on the ground" through a number of initiatives.

But in addressing city councillors at this evening's budget meeting, Brenda Butterworth-Carr says managing at that 121 level will become increasingly difficult in the coming years.

The city funds 90-percent of the municipal force, while the federal government pays for the other 10-percent - and has authorized a contract of 128 officers. Police protection services make up the largest single item in the city's operating budget. This evening, councillors approved the 2011 policing budget request of $20.6-million dollars. And while that's up from $19.3-million last year, the increase is to cover a rise in salaries and pensions, not service enhancements - it maintains the number of officers at the 121-level.

Butterworth-Carr says by bringing in cadets on a lower pay scale, filling vacancies within the detachment to cut down on overtime, and by partnering with North District and units from the Lower Mainland, she's been able to maintain an average of 124 officers - and in some instances up to 128 in a month - and still remain under the 121 budget cost-wise.

The challenges, says Butterworth-Carr, are that those level one constables will be moving up to the top of their pay scale. As well, she says, "Provincial resources currently at the detachment are insufficient to address rural crime issues and this is currently being supplemented by the municipal detachment budget."

Through a 70-30 split, the provincial government and Ottawa fund the 11 rural officers who work out of the Prince George detachment, but the Superintendent says that's simply not enough officers to handle all the rural calls for service and municipal members are also responding.

Mayor Dan Rogers says, "This is a great example of the challenges that we're facing when we're trying to manage our budget - we have a city force and it's paid for primarily by city taxpayers and it's a concern to me when we start getting into rural enforcement outside of city boundaries."

Rogers acknowledges that there is often a bit of back-and-forth and cooperation with North District, but says, "We need to watch that budget very closely to ensure taxpayers in the City of Prince George are paying for services that are provided in the City of Prince George."

And the mayor says he's also taken Butterworth-Carr's warnings of the looming challenges under advisement, "I think, in the long term, we need to find ways in which we can provide some additional resources to the RCMP, but it's difficult at this particular time."

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