| Jan. 26, 2012 | ||
| Study to be reviewed at Jan. 30 Council Meeting |
||
| City Council will receive the Police Resource Requirements
study by Robert Prosser & Associates at its regular meeting Monday,
Jan. 30."The report now provides the City and the RCMP with strong, relevant
data to develop a Police Services Strategic Plan and Local Crime
Reduction Strategy that meet the needs of our citizens," says Paul
Macklem, General Manager of Corporate Sustainability. "The strategy is
expected to be ready for Council's consideration prior to final budget
in May."Baselines for the report were in part established by interviewing and
analyzing a number of other policing units in Western Canada. While the
City of Kelowna's overall crime rate remained flat between 2000 and
2009, with a minor increase of 0.4%, the other communities selected for
the study were able to reduce crime rates between 13.9% and 31.6%. The
report attributes these reductions to proactive crime prevention
strategies, while recognizing similar levels may be difficult to achieve
in Kelowna due to the large influx of tourists in the summer. The City
of Kelowna's population also grew faster than the other communities'
during the time frame studied. The full report, which will be available on the City's website under Council Meetings later this afternoon, recommends a net staff increase of 15.25 based on achieving three criteria: a 25% reduction in calls-for-service, officers having 25% of their time available for pro-active crime prevention activities and a target of 70.5 Criminal Code and Drug Offences per 1,000 population. "While the City and RCMP were aware that police services were under-resourced, we now know the full extent of the challenge before us," says Macklem. "The report also recommends going up-stream (crime prevention) to stop people from falling into the stream in the first place, which in the long run reduces crime rates, triggering fewer staffing requirements." Police services currently represents just under 20 per cent of the City's taxation. City Council has approved 35 RCMP positions and 12 municipal support staff since 2000, including four RCMP supervisors and one crime analyst in the preliminary 2012 budget. |
Item 5.1 - Police Resourcing and Protective Services Review.pdf (1752kb) (2012-01-26)
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