The provincial government has chopped $4.2 million from the RCMP鈥檚 budget, and the police force is not taking it quietly. The RCMP has responded by slashing funds for some high-profile units that are most likely to anger ordinary British Columbians.
The cuts amount to about 1.2 per cent of the RCMP鈥檚 $325-million budget in sa国际传媒
The biggest cut is to the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. They are the officers who pursue the gangs that plague much of sa国际传媒, from Prince George to Victoria.
One of the unit鈥檚 six Lower Mainland teams will be axed, with the loss of 12 jobs. Other agencies can also expect less help from the unit. Fortunately, the gang unit鈥檚 office on Vancouver Island was spared.
The rest of the cost-cutting hits the major-crime unit, which will lose 13 full-time investigators.
The RCMP says the cuts to the two units are necessary because it has run out of other places to trim.
鈥淭he sa国际传媒 RCMP have significantly reduced the size of our fleet, adjusted shift schedules to better meet demand, reduced travel costs, found innovative solutions for lower-cost training, centralized administrative functions in our new headquarters, and more,鈥� said Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens, the commanding officer of the sa国际传媒 RCMP. 鈥淪imply put, there are no further savings to be found; and any budget reductions mean that we have to reduce the size of the provincial police service.鈥�
This is Public Spending 101. If someone higher up the food chain gives you less money, you chop the most high-profile programs you can find, the ones that the public supports. The idea is to win sympathy from the voters and taxpayers.
British Columbians see right through it. But they will still feel the pain.
While crime rates continue to fall, gang activity is an unceasing threat. Outrages such as the Surrey Six killings and other tit-for-tat gang murders happen far too often. And, as the Surrey Six case shows, innocent bystanders can become victims.
Cutting the police officers who hunt gangsters is false economy.
As NDP justice critic Mike Farnworth said: 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 take your foot off the throat of organized crime.鈥�
The Ministry of Justice says its foot is still firmly in place, and it鈥檚 trying to ensure that 鈥渆verything is done to protect front-line policing while meeting budget targets.鈥�
Since the RCMP is cutting 25 jobs that look a lot like front-line police officers, that rings hollow.
There must be accountability in spending, so British Columbians can be sure any cuts make sense. If there is less money, let鈥檚 see some serious thinking about where and how to cut.
Instead of shaving positions here and there to meet a dollar figure, let鈥檚 take a more in-depth look at what the police do and how they do it. Then make sure British Columbians understand what鈥檚 being done and buy into the reasons for it.
The province already knows some of the ideas that might help.
The Ministry of Justice statement includes this commitment: 鈥淲e continue to look for further opportunities to further integrate police services since it eliminates duplication and increases the sharing of expertise and information among police agencies.鈥�
Viewed from Greater Victoria, where most of the integrated police units are coming apart at the seams and the province produced an integration report with no recommendations, the statement reads like a cruel joke.
If integration is worthwhile, why isn鈥檛 the province backing it with more than words?
Fixing the problems demands courage and creative thinking. Chiselling away at police services is not good enough.
