Cop Costs Covered

Peter McIntyre Tuesday, 14 September 2010 08:57107,5 KISSFM

The city of Vernon will ask BC's Solicitor General to consider a fairer system for policing costs. Mayor Wayne Lippert says the city is concerned about its costs for the integrated detachment--compared to what other North Okanagan communities pay. Mayor Wayne Lippert says they feel the RCMP are doing a good job, but they're concerned with how the costs are proportioned by the province. Lippert says Vernon is "greatly subsidizing" the other communities, especially when it comes to police support staff where 33 of the 43 workers are funded by the city.

Councillor Bob Spiers says the problem of Vernon covering the support staff costs, has developed over the years. "Rather than trying to get buy-in from other communities where they actually work, and get them to support the payments, we just went ahead and raised our hands (approved funding requests) and they became support staff for the city of Vernon, and city taxpayers picked up the full bill."

The cost per police officer has soared to 165-thousand dollars a year.