STRATFORD, P.E.I. — A national shortfall in RCMP officers has a Stratford councillor wanting to make sure the town is getting what it’s paying for when it comes to its policing contract.
With the town’s RCMP reports showing a decline in the number of tickets being issued in recent months and residents sharing concerns, Coun. Derek Smith raised questions about the police presence.
“(Tickets) seem to have fallen off now. That could be one of two reasons: obviously, the citizens of Stratford are law-abiding, which is great news, or the police presence doesn’t seem to be there,” said Smith, an RCMP officer for about 30 years, later told The Guardian.
“I have to make sure we get our bang for the buck ... The citizens of Stratford include RCMP officers, they themselves are paying taxes, and we have to justify every line of the budget to citizens of this community.”
The concern was related to an RCMP shortage that is affecting the entire country, including P.E.I.
Smith pointed to recent reports of the RCMP being short-staffed by about 40 per cent, an issue that has come up in Island communities such as Borden-Carleton, Tignish, Alberton and O’Leary. The difference between those communities and Stratford is that while those municipalities have contracts with the province for policing services, Stratford has a direct deal with the RCMP that assigns six officers to the town.
Smith questioned what was causing the RCMP’s overall shortfall and whether Stratford was helping make up the difference in other communities.
“We are paying for services and, yes we have the members contracted to Stratford, but are they going to different areas of P.E.I. to cover work shortages?” said Smith. “That’s a big concern for us.”
Council also heard from Mayor Steve Ogden that police presence was an issue consistently raised by residents while campaigning for last fall’s election.
He noted that while officers may patrol subdivisions throughout the day, the lack of visibility in those areas is usually during the morning and late afternoon commuting hours.
“Those are the times that people are complaining about speeding and fearing for their kids’ safety coming home from school,” said Ogden. “The real discussion (is about) visibility in those time frames.”
Council will wait to see the results of a resident engagement survey, which asks citizens about their satisfaction with RCMP.
The issue will then be discussed at the committee of the whole.
Ogden said he also hopes to set up a meeting between council and the RCMP commanding officer.
“At least by mid-May we should have this discussion. We should have a plan put together and some concrete steps that will be taken to address some of these concerns,” said Ogden.
