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Though Iqaluit’s RCMP detachment will be almost fully staffed for the next few years, there still aren’t enough cops in town to meet the rising demand for police services, Steve McVarnock, the chief superintendent of Nunavut’s V division, said last week. McVarnock said a standard analysis of the city’s population growth and the detachment’s workload showed the detachment needs more RCMP members. Last January, McVarnock received the RCMP’s estimate for Iqaluit’s police needs, based on crime statistics 2007-08 crime statistics.
The report found Iqaluit needs more RCMP members. McVarnock would not disclose the estimated staffing recommendation, saying it’s an internal RCMP document. In 2008, Iqaluit police received 10,733 calls for service. In 2009, they received 13,624 calls, a recent RCMP presentation to the city council reported. Those 2009 numbers haven’t been included in the RCMP’s recent estimate, so McVarnock says the numbers in the staffing estimate aren’t high enough. And 2010 has been busy so far too. McVarnock said there had been a lot of drug and alcohol seizures, a product of the RCMP’s nationwide freeze on leave during the Vancouver Olympics. Even so, McVarnock said the Iqaluit detachment’s size won’t increase in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
Ironically, McVarnock said V Division has a waiting list of RCMP members who want to serve in Nunavut. He said some 300 RCMP members have expressed interest in Nunavut. As a result, all of V Division’s positions will be filled next year, except for those that require a promotion, because of administrative delays.
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