New Westminster City Councillor Daniel Fontaine appeared on CKNW’s Mike Smyth Show today to talk about equitable treatment for municipalities when it comes to police funding. Fontaine is bringing forward a motion later this month that if approved, will call upon the Province of BC to provide new funding to cities impacted by the Surrey Police Service (SPS) transition. The Province provided the City of Surrey with $150M to help defray the costs associated with the transition from the RCMP to SPS.
According to public reports provided by the NWPD, a total of 15 police officers were recruited away from New Westminster and were hired by the SPS in 2021 and 2022. Additional officers are forecast to be recruited away as the SPS transition ramps up over the coming years.
Fontaine also spoke about the increased costs facing the NWPD as a result of a decision by the Province of BC and the Justice Institute of BC (JIBC) to no longer cover the costs of training of recruits. It is estimated the NWPD now has to pick up the tab of approximately $23,000 per recruit training costs at a time when a significant number of officers are being lured to work in places like Surrey or for the RCMP.
Is this topic of interest to you? The NWP will be hosting a Crime and Safety Forum on November 8th from 7-9 pm at Inn at the Quay. A few free tickets remain but you will need to visit Eventbrite to confirm your attendance.
To listen to the entire CKNW interview, click on the link below.