Spall Done Fighting Extra Police Officer

Despite having one of the lowest crime rates in the province, Spallumcheen is being mandated by the province to provide funding for a fourth police officer.

Mayor Christine Fraser says they made their best case to the Minister of Public Safety, but she says four is the minimum number of officers communities of five-thousand people have to have.

“We met with the minister at UBCM, and we explained to him that we have the second lowest crime rate in the province, and we were disappointed after that meeting when they reviewed everything, that they didn’t see that we didn’t require a fourth officer. But they’ve told us that the minimum amount of officers they can have in a detachment for a community that’s over 5,000, is four members. That the minimum across the whole province,” Fraser told Beach Radio News.

Fraser says it will cost the township about 160-thousand dollars a year, which will be taken from reserves.