Dawson Creek council discusses costs to add additional RCMP to address crime

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — Dawson Creek council received a report during their April 15th  meeting regarding the cost of hiring additional police officers to support the city’s detachment with current community needs.

The report came after Mayor Darcy Dober brought forward a memo during a closed council meeting in July 2023. The memo said the current situation within the city regarding the overdose prevention site and increased bylaw responses to the homeless population may require the consideration of adding city staff to take on added responsibility.

Staff was directed to bring back a report to the council identifying the costs of adding additional officers, including an RCMP officer, bylaw enforcement officer, and wellness officer.

While discussing the report during the April 15th council meeting, Dober spoke about the financial implications of hiring new RCMP officers. 

“I strongly feel we need to look at potentially adding RCMP officers and whether that’s coupling into our 2025 budget process,” said Dober. 

According to the Municipal Police Service Agreement between British Columbia and Canada, municipalities with a population of 5,000 to 14,999 pay a 70 per cent cost base described in the agreements, with the federal government covering the remaining 30 per cent. 

Each officer costs $230,000 per year, with the city’s contribution per member being $161,000 currently. 

According to the report, the historical spending on RCMP member wages has decreased over the past few years due to the large number of vacancies.

Councillor Parslow said Tumbler Ridge and Chetwynd continue to receive full funding for their police services through the province, which needs to be addressed in order to provide better funding for larger communities. 

“Chetwynd pays zero for policing. The notion is they should be paying, at least, what the city of Dawson Creek is paying,” said Parslow. 

Parslow also says RCMP officers can go anywhere after a couple of years of service, and the issue is being able to attract and retain the city’s police force. 

Since 2012, the cap for municipal police in Dawson Creek has been 25 employees.

The city’s records show that the allocation has steadily increased, with the earliest available record showing 21 officers in 2004. 

The report says, “Increasing the cap for municipal policing positions provides a benefit even if there are vacancies, as the RCMP provides new recruits based on vacancy percentage.” 

The detachment had a full complement of RCMP members last summer for two months, which had not been seen since 2017. 

Under the current model, there are four shifts of five members, a watch commander assigned to general duty, three constables and a commander assigned to the general investigation section, and three assigned to the detachment command.

Currently, the detachment has four vacancies and two long-term leaves.

Dober said tax revenue would also need to be increased if new officers were hired.

“If we were to add two RCMP officers, we’re going to have to increase revenue to pay for that,” said Dober. 

Dober also mentioned a new bylaw officer was hired back in the fall.

Staff included an additional option of having watch clerks assigned to provide clerical support. 

“If each shift had a watch clerk assigned to them to provide clerical support, the members would be able to spend additional time on proactive patrolling and less time in the office completing administrative duties,” says the report. 

One detachment clerk is currently employed, and there are two vacant positions, one of which is waiting for a completed security clearance.

The clerks would cost $75,000 in total. 

According to the report, 12 municipalities in BC are policing 11 independent municipal police departments. The municipalities pay all of the policing costs from local property taxes without provincial subsidies.

In February, Dober and Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Henderson discussed the matter with B.C.’s Minister of Public Safety, Mike Farnsworth and Attorney General Nikki Sharma. 

Their discussion noted that crime in Dawson Creek has almost doubled over the last four years, and the number of RCMP officers employed has stayed the same. They also discussed the possibility of adding more provincially funded officers. 

According to Henderson, Farnsworth stated that the most effective way to approach this is through their special task force, which they find effective throughout the province.  

During Monday’s discussion, councillor Jerimy Earl also requested more information on the RCMP’s Auxiliary program to train volunteers to enhance community policing and take time constraints and demands off the regular detachment. 

Councillor Parslow said Tumbler Ridge and Chetwynd continue to receive full funding for their police services through the province, which needs to be addressed in order to provide better funding for larger communities. 

“Chetwynd pays zero for policing. The notion is they should be paying, at least, what the city of Dawson Creek is paying,” said Parslow. 

Parslow also says RCMP officers can go anywhere after a couple of years of service, and the issue is being able to attract and retain the city’s police force. 

Dober emphasized that no action needed to be taken at the meeting but that it must consider the potential for adding more RCMP officers in the future. 

The full report can be viewed below: