Last week, members of the Local Government RCMP Contract Management Committee (LGCMC) met with Public Safety Canada to provide input towards the ongoing federal assessment of contract policing. The following article is a summary of issues raised by the Committee to Public Safety Canada, which included input provided by UBCM members during a March 2023 webinar.
Discussion centred around four themes the federal government has created for the purpose of this assessment:
Governance and Accountability
Local government representatives emphasized the current lack of consideration for local priorities, and the need for improved engagement with local governments who pay the majority of policing costs. As policing costs continue to rise, local governments are asking for a bigger say in how policing services are delivered and cost decisions are made. An example raised by LGCMC members was the negotiation of the RCMP Collective Agreement, and the need to improve communication, as well as find opportunities to better involve local governments in the process.
Program Sustainability and Cost
It was emphasized that while policing costs are increasing for all partners, local governments are absorbing the largest share, which is putting extra pressure on the property tax system to pay for services. Local governments are concerned about both operational and capital costs related to policing, and surpassing the 5,000-person threshold can represent a sudden and overwhelming cost increase for those local governments.
Concern was also expressed regarding the RCMP’s resourcing limitations, especially related to recruitment and the ability to fill the many vacancies that exist in BC.
Service Delivery
There was a general agreement that RCMP members add value to local communities, and appreciation for the duties that they perform. Improved service delivery was examined from the perspective of meeting new demands for policing, with local members citing the benefits of tiered policing to help address vacancy issues and meet challenges with respect to dealing with social issues.
Members also raised a variety of other issues, including maintaining continuity when RCMP members leave a community and new ones arrive; re-starting the Auxiliary Program; the operational impact of concentrating federal policing resources in large centres; providing comprehensive policing data; keeping all local detachments open, including those in rural areas; adding more localized training; and the importance for the Officer in Charge (OIC) of a local detachment to consider local priorities; and, to maintain continuity when OICs are replaced.
Long-Term Vision (2032 and Beyond)
The future of contract policing was discussed, with local government representatives supporting the continuation of the contract policing program. It was noted that despite a recommendation from the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act for British Columbia to adopt a provincial police force, local governments continue to support maintaining the RCMP as their police force of jurisdiction.
The federal government intends to release a ‘What We Heard’ report in the fall, summarizing the assessment of contract policing, including conversations that have taken place across Canada over the past several months.