Vernon short seven RCMP officers

By Scott Neufeld Wednesday, January 10, 2007 http://www.dailycourier.ca/article_864.php

Even with the hiring of 10 new police officers in Vernon since 2004, the city still has seven job openings.According to the provincial government, Vernon has enough funding to hire 53 officers , however, there are currently about 46 members patrolling Vernon streets.

Vernon’s officer in charge, Insp. Steve McVarnock said Vernon is not alone in having officer vacancies. He said detachments across the country are finding it hard to recruit officers quickly enough to make up for attrition.“All police service areas have had a lot of people move into their retirement years,” he said. “We’ve gone through the biggest part of it over the last few years.”But through the RCMP’s recruitment programs, McVarnock said that within the next three years new cadets will fill most of the vacancies.

However, having so many younger members brings staffing challenges of its own, he said.“A lot of our newer members are getting in maternity and paternity leaves,” he said.RCMP staffing levels fluctuate in a given year due to a number of factors including transfers to and from other detachments, extended sick leaves as well as retirement and maternity/paternity leaves. McVarnock said new cadets stay at a detachment for a maximum of five years while more senior officers who have served in less desirable jurisdictions have the opportunity to stay longer.“That’s the kind of premise the RCMP was founded on,” he said. “Everybody brings new experiences, new skills from other detachments so it keeps the ideas fresh.”

The provincial government announced on Tuesday that $860,111 in traffic fine revenue had been given to the Vernon since 2004. The money has been spent on adding new officers to the force, according to the city.City finance manager Rob Mayne said that since 2004, Vernon’s actual number of officers has risen from 36.6 members up to 46 members by the end of 2006. He said they are hoping to add another three new positions by the end of this year.“You always have a gap between the authorized police strength and what you actually have on the force,” he said. “For 2006 we had an authorized strength of 49 but actually only had around 43 or 44 (officers).”