Province has opportunity to review regional policing
The Chamber has long called for a renewed approach to policing in Greater Victoria in order to ensure resources are available where they’re most needed.
A decision by the Township of Esquimalt to not renew a 10-year agreement with the City of Victoria to share policing costs creates an opportunity for the provincial government to look at a regional police force.
“Perhaps this might be an opportunity to make major structural changes in the makeup of the police departments here in the south Island,” VicPD police chief Del
Manak told the Times Colonist.
A report released this spring by the province from the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act suggested that a regional police force is past due.
The report stated that, when the provincial government ordered the merger of the Esquimalt and Victoria police forces in 2002, the understanding at the time was that “this would be the first step towards regional integration of policing in the Capital Region, but this has not happened.”
A decision by the Township of Esquimalt to not renew a 10-year agreement with the City of Victoria to share policing costs creates an opportunity for the provincial government to look at a regional police force.
“Perhaps this might be an opportunity to make major structural changes in the makeup of the police departments here in the south Island,” VicPD police chief Del
Manak told the Times Colonist.
A report released this spring by the province from the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act suggested that a regional police force is past due.
The report stated that, when the provincial government ordered the merger of the Esquimalt and Victoria police forces in 2002, the understanding at the time was that “this would be the first step towards regional integration of policing in the Capital Region, but this has not happened.”
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