Whereas British Columbia Municipalities may jointly participate in RCMPPolicing to cost-effectively manage community safety in their region with the Province providing funding to each Municipality based on population; And whereas the 2018 West Shore RCMP General Duty Service Assessment has identified that the current 81 officer detachment needs to be bolstered by 9 officers immediately and another 4 by 2023 with the current share contributed by the Province providing 40 fewer officers per capita, equating to an approximate 720,000 short fall, forcing some municipalities to contribute more than their equitable share; And whereas the Province does not hesitate to force a municipality to hire additional officers when it determines that the Municipality requires them to meet the needs of the community, as was the case for the City of Victoria this year: Therefore be it resolved that the Province immediately increase their contribution for the provincial component of RCMP funding to meet the immediate and projected service needs for the communities they serve where a General Duty Service Assessment has identified a short fall.
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General The Provincial Government has made significant investments in the BC RCMP Provincial Service, increasing an average of approximately 18 million per year since the 2012 Agreement was signed. Government is aware that front-line police resource levels at provincial jurisdictional units have not increased as a result of these investments. In the delivery of policing services, the RCMP must respect the distinction of municipal and provincial policing responsibilities as defined by the Police Act. Encroachment on municipal or provincial responsibilities, whether front-line General Duty, specialized functions, or serious and major crime services, will directly impact the respective partners resources and budgets. It is imperative that provincial resource levels are commensurate to the workload generated by provincial areas, and that any RCMP review or assessment of resourcing is appropriate, robust, comprehensive, and reflects the wider context of service delivery. Ministry staff continue to work with the RCMP in their development of appropriate tools and methodologies to assess provincial resource levels, as well as potential resource or service inequities amongst contract partners. The ministry also continues to work with the RCMP, and internally in government, to address front-line, uniformed provincial police resourcing.