The RCMP will stay in Red Deer.
On Monday city council voted overwhelmingly, 7-2, in favour of maintaining Red Deer’s longstanding history with the national police force versus starting a municipal police force.
Mayor Morris Flewwelling and Councillors Dianne Wyntjes, Tara Veer, Frank Wong, Cindy Jefferies, Paul Harris and Lynne Mulder voted to keep the RCMP contract, but with an amendment suggested by Veer that included setting service level standards and identifying local priorities for prevention and enforcement.
Cost was a big factor in their decision, since starting up a new force would cost around $7-10 million.
But Councillors Chris Stephan and Buck Buchanan voted against the motion.
Stephan was the lone one to say a municipal force may be the better of the two. For one thing, he argued that the claim the RCMP is cheaper, doesn’t seem to hold true when he looks at the recently completed Crime Prevention and Policing Strategic Update and Policing Services Model Review.
He referred to how Lethbridge’s budget is at $21,169,500 with a police force of 148 officers.
And yet Red Deer’s force numbers 122 with a 2009 budget of $20,807,373.
Plus, he figures the city would have more influence with a municipal police department.
“I know we have asked for more foot patrol, especially in the downtown and with the RCMP, we can’t dictate the resources that we want allocated,” Stephan said. “I believe we would have a lot more influence with a municipal force and being able to get what our citizens want.”
Buchanan, a former RCMP officer, said he really wanted a mixture of the two forces — where the municipal force would handle the day-to-day policing while the RCMP would handle the “big city cop” matters like organized crime.
But a number of councillors said the $150,000 study done by consultants, Peter Copple of Calgary and Keith Taylor of Vancouver, should be considered. The consultants said in their research that the RCMP would be more cost-effective and present fewer staffing challenges.
Flewwelling said the 500-page study, which is an update of the 2005 report, indicated that the RCMP still needed to make some changes.
“The RCMP would not be status quo, but with improvements,” he said. “And the financing was a no-brainer for me.”
Wyntjes said the “financial element” is critical.
Having a combination municipal-RCMP police force would be confusing according to residents she’s spoken with, she added.
Wong said he knows it’s costly to have the RCMP with about $145,000 per member. But the switch to a municipal force would be costly.
“I don’t want to switch because it means another division and another director,” Wong said. “We need a controller, a strategist. . . all of a sudden we have another colony...I don’t mind staying with the RCMP, but with variations.”
Jefferies said she’d rather see the spending of money on crime prevention versus starting up a municipal police force.
She also said the economics of the day were important to consider.
Veer had similar sentiments about cost.
“We also have to weigh against the desire for park expansion, enhanced snow removal and decreases to our taxes and utility rate structure,” she said. “While I think safety and security are primary areas of concern for our public, it’s one of many areas that our public wants to see changes in our service level standards.”
She specifically would like to see the city establish service levels in the areas of: police response times, target numbers for clearing cases, caseloads per officer, and response times for bylaw complaints.
Harris said the report is full of important information.
“We need to look at the recommendations more closely and look at what’s not working well and figure out how council can have more direct control on some of the targets, such as foot patrol and dealing with drug trafficking,” he said. “With all that work, crime prevention is a strategy and if we’re still not seeing the service levels change, then maybe we need to look at a different police force.”
Mulder said she would like to see an improved RCMP, with a prevention focus.
“How can we get the citizens more involved in crime prevention in their area?,” she said. “That’s the kind of culture we want to get to. I don’t think police are the only thing in our crime prevention portfolio.”
Mulder said she’s looking forward to more priority setting when it comes to the RCMP.
“They’re anxious for that to happen too,” she said.
Council’s approval of the report means that it will serve as a planning tool for the city.
It contains 43 recommendations, including better reporting of complaints through mobile data terminals. Other recommendations include : ensuring effective investigative response to complaints of cyber-bulling (threats done online); exploring the common needs of crime prevention programs with the view of having optimized co-ordination; and ensuring that policing services align with community organizations that can intervene when it comes to drug/alcohol abuse and mental abuse.
In other council news:
• council supports signalized intersection at 67th Street and Carleton Avenue
• council endorses upgrades to water treatment plant
• council supports funding for a winter emergency response program for homeless individuals
• Riverlands Area Redevelopment Plan is approved, as well as Development Design Criteria as a planning tool
ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com
— copyright Red Deer Advocate