While the financial allotment for the Prince George RCMP will remain the same, city council has thrown their support behind an idea to get more officers on the ground.
During the first 2015 budget meeting, city council unanimously approved increasing the local detachment's contracted roster to 135 members. Currently the city has a contract with the provincial government to provide 128 RCMP members, but since 2009, has budgeted for 121 members because the contracted roster isn't usually met.
The increase on paper is not expected to affect the budget, which council approved at $22.8 million (which includes funding for Community Policing and Victim Services).
"Our recommendation is we'll sign a contract for 135 and our expectation of the officer in charge is to manage to a budget of 121," said city manager Beth James.
The RCMP and cultural and recreation services department head Rob Whitwham first brought this proposal to the finance and audit committee in the summer.
At that time, Staff Sgt. Perry Smith and Insp. Brad Anderson explained part of the issue was due to not having enough hard vacancies, which are spots left completely open and not vacant due to injury or parental leave, or soft vacancies.
The detachment has 121 active members right now, Smith told council Wednesday. Information given to the finance and audit committee in August notes that the P.G. RCMP has averaged about 12 per cent less members on the street over the past three years than are on the roster due to those soft vacancies.
By increasing the contracted amount of RCMP members to 135, the detachment is hoping to generate enough of those hard vacancies to fill all funded 121 spots.
James warned councillors that there was "an outside, remote risk" that there wouldn't be any soft vacancies and that the detachment could staff to the full contracted amount. The city would then be on the hook for the extra costs.
