On Monday, Prince George city council approved hiring two additional RCMP officers and building an access road for emergency vehicles through the Lower Patricia encampment, named Moccasin Flats by residents.
The moves were part of a security strategy for the encampment, approved before city council designated Moccasin Flats the only public park or greenspace where overnight sheltering is allowed.
Council approved hiring two additional RCMP officers to work alongside the Provincial Repeat Violent Offender Intervention Initiative (ReVOII), using funding already approved in the 2023 budget.
“We would attach them to our Downtown Safety Unit,” RCMP Supt. Shaun Wright said.
The officers will work in coordination with Crown prosecutors funded by the provincial government to target violent offenders throughout the city, Wright said. The RCMP’s downtown unit is often in most frequent contact with those violent offenders, so adding the additional officers there is a good fit, he added.
The two additional officers for the ReVOII unit would be in addition to the four additional RCMP officers approved by city council during the 2023 budget process, Wright said.
Because of recruitment times, adding the two officers isn’t expected to add any costs to the city this year, but will be an ongoing cost of roughly $420,000 in 2024 and onward, city director of public safety Adam Davey wrote in his report to city council. Davey recommended hiring more RCMP officers, rather than spending a comparable amount of money to hire private security officers to patrol in the area of Moccasin Flats.
“We already are requiring four additional officers next year,” Coun. Cori Ramsay said.
Many municipalities are requesting additional officers, she added, so it makes sense for Prince George to start recruiting them now.
Coun. Tim Bennett said crime and homelessness are not the same issue and he had “a hard time, connecting RCMP spending with the encampment.”
Bennett and Coun. Trudy Klassen opposed hiring the additional officers.
ACCESS ROAD PLANNED
City council also approved plans to use heavy equipment to clear a roadway through Moccasin Flats to ensure emergency vehicle access. The plan is to clear a roadway, improve the surface and install no-post concrete barriers on either side, Davey said.
The city has engaged with service providers and residents of the encampment and “there is broad support to ensure emergency vehicles can access the site,” Davey said.
The work is expected to take place May 15, and Dave said the city intends to hand-deliver notices to all residents in the encampment starting on Tuesday.
The city received the concrete barriers for free from another provincial agency, and the cost of installing them was estimated at $10,000 to $15,000, Davey added.
Council also authorized city staff to remove items blocking the access road, in order to keep it clear.
“Certainly bylaws staff don’t want to seize anything. They’ll likely just move it off the access way,” Davey said.
If items are seized, the city has a unit to store them for up to 30 days to allow the owner to reclaim them, he added.
City council also supported a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design pilot project in the residential area neighbouring Moccasin Flats.
“It’s all part of making the built environment more prone to crime prevention,” Davey said. “There would be some of that defensive architecture, but mostly its about improving sight-lines, lighting and so on.”
