By Roger Knox - Vernon Morning Star Published: February 01, 2013 1:00 AM
The RCMP insist it won’t be business as usual despite assurances from the City of Vernon. Council has approved a 1.8 per cent hike to the RCMP
budget but the detachment requested a 6.7 per cent increase. The
difference between the two is $413,000. “We will have two less police officers to support
proactive services,” said Supt. Reg Burgess, officer in charge of the
detachment. “I will meet with my senior team and we will have to figure out the best way to police the town.” However, the city states the 1.8 per cent budget
increase will not prevent the RCMP from providing the same level of
service as in the past. “The number of officers will be the same average number
of active officers in the city over the last several years,” said Mayor
Rob Sawatzky in a release Thursday. “With council’s continued emphasis on policing and
safety priorities, council anticipates a continuance of the safe
community trends of recent years.” Burgess says the detachment bills the city for 50 officers and 2013 funding levels will lead to 48. He anticipates the direct impact with fewer officers will be undercover operations on prostitution and drug activities downtown. Burgess also suggests the detachment will have less
flexibility when officers are injured or ill and members may have to be shifted away from specific initiatives like school liaison and foot
patrols. “We are aware of the importance of foot patrols but
it’s feasible we may have to yank those bodies to support regular calls
for service,” he said. The city states that there will be no change in council’s public safety priorities. “Those include the proactive community policing and
development programs, downtown foot patrols, RCMP school liaison officer
and the restorative justice program,” said Sawatzky in the release. “Many of these programs are City of Vernon programs but
it is the expectation of council that these will be the priorities of
the Vernon RCMP.”
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