Prince George is one of the most crime-ridden cities in B.C., and local RCMP officers carry caseloads 84% above average, according to a report going before council on Wednesday.
Prince George RCMP officers are facing “an untenable situation” which is “compromising public safety and threaten the mental health and well-being of officers,” according to a report going to city council on Wednesday.
Simon Fraser University professor of criminology and consultant Curt Taylor, along with professors Eli Sopow from University Canada West and Joshua Murphy of Kwantlen Polytechnic University, were hired by the City of Prince George this year to conduct a review of the resources and service levels at the Prince George RCMP detachment. City council will receive the report during a committee of the whole meeting planned for Wednesday afternoon.
In 2020, there were a total of 17,204 Criminal Code offences reported in Prince George – the third-highest in B.C after Vancouver and Surrey - according to provincial data. Prince George’s crime rate that year was 209, the highest among B.C. municipalities with 15,000 or more people and more than twice the average of 83. Among all B.C. communities with 5,000 or more people, Prince George had the third highest crime rate in the province, after Williams Lake and Quesnel .
‘PERVASIVENESS OF CRIME AND DISORDER’ “Prince George Municipal RCMP officers have an individual caseload burden 84 higher than the average for all BC RCMP policed municipalities over 15,000 in population,” the report authors wrote. “Officers consistently responded to more calls per Police Officer than the average for all 32 RCMP-served municipalities in BC with a population above 15,000.
$1M PER YEAR FOR FIVE YEARS NEEDED Between 2014 and 2022, the Prince George RCMP requested 26 additional members, of which 15 were approved – increasing the nominal detachment size from 128 officers in 2014 to 143 in 2022, city director of public safety Adam Davey wrote in his supplemental report. However, the actual budgeted police strength of the detachment only grew from 121 officers to 128 officers during that time.
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