Friday, August 28, 2015

RCMP Numbers Discussed

Posted on 8/27/2015 by Pete McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM
Vernon council will be debating the need to add one or two more police officers to next year's budget. Mayor Akbal Mund says at a special meeting, there was concerns the RCMP has been operating with 48 officers, but doing the work of 50. "And eventually what happens is you get caught up there, and we're going to have to look at trying to fund one or two positions at the RCMP to get to the level so we don't have to cut any service. That's probably going to be our biggest challenge," says Mund. Mund says while crimes like assaults have gone down in the city, others like thefts and property crimes, are up. "What used to take the RCMP a week to investigate and put the case file to bed, now can take up to three months, and that's just because of the way laws have changed," the mayor tells Kiss FM. City staff is suggesting a 3.7 percent budget hike for 2016.... 1.8% for operations, and 1.9% for a yearly infrastructure fund. Mund says the goal is to have the budget done by January, would be about a month ahead of this year.

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