WHEREAS the Police Act makes municipalities responsible for the investigation of homicides in British Columbia based on the jurisdiction in which a victims body is discovered; AND WHEREAS the increasing average cost for investigating a homicide could have a major impact to local tax payers in most small and mid-sized communities; AND WHEREAS equal treatment of homicide investigations should not be impaired by the ability of any given municipality to pay for the investigation costs: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM petition the Province to amend the Police Act such that the costs of homicide investigations are borne by the Province and not by the municipal tax payers.
Ministry of Public Safety Solicitor General Under the Police Act the Solicitor General requires that an adequate and effective level of policing is maintained to ensure public safety. Municipalities are specifically required to provide policing with a police force of sufficient strength to enforce the laws and maintain law and order. Municipalities are expected to prevent, to respond and solve all crime issues within their communities; this includes homicide investigations. Policing is dynamic, not static, and from time to time all levels of government incur extraordinary expenditures over and above their established police budgets in order to adequately deal with crimes in their communities. There are extraordinary cases where it is unreasonable to expect municipalities to pay these costs. In the past, the provincial force has assisted municipalities with major investigations. However, municipal governments still have an obligation to pay a share of the costs in these extraordinary cases that occur within their policing jurisdiction. There are other examples where the RCMP enter into cost sharing arrangements with municipalities on major projects and investigations. In the Lower Mainland, municipalities have integrated specialized units to serve multiple jurisdictions and share the costs across those jurisdictions. The Province recognizes that areas outside of the urban core currently do not have the benefit of specialized integrated teams to provide the level of expertise required by some investigations and the ability to share the costs of these investigations. The Province continues to work with the RCMP on integration initiatives to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of policing. The Province provides significant funding for initiatives that benefit all municipalities and police agencies, such as DNA analysis and the implementation of PRIME. There are also a number of specialized units that the Province subsidizes or funds directly that would otherwise be paid for by municipalities, such as the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit that combats organized crime.