By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: May 01, 2010 12:00 PM Vernon officials are concerned that a records management system is increasingly expensive. A staff report shows the Police Records Information Management Environment — a program mandated by the RCMP and government — cost $74,872 in 2007 and that is expected to rise to $188,229 in 2010/11. “It’s an additional cost put upon our police budget,” said Coun. Bob Spiers. “It was unexpected and it keeps going up.” PRIME was originally supposed to cost $500 per officer, but that has climbed to $1,000 per officer. “We’ve had to hire a couple of extra people to monitor the program,” said Spiers. Those positions include a PRIME co-ordinator at an annual salary of $79,895 (including benefits) and a half-time court-liaison at $30,383 a year. Other expenses have revolved around training officers to use the system.
“Actual costs to March 31, 2009 for training (including overtime) are $81,727 and ongoing training costs are estimated at $10,000 per year. The city pays 90 per cent of these costs,” said Kevin Bertles, finance manager, in the report. The city has also had to pay for transcription services and equipment. “It’s a good system but it’s a lot more costly than anticipated,” said Spiers of PRIME. The report will be sent to the provincial government.“When they renegotiate the contract with the RCMP, I hope it will be negotiated in our favour,” said Spiers.
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