City will fund extra RCMP costs
RCMP pay raises that took communities across the province by surprise are now expected to cost Kamloops an extra $25,000 this year.
Council agreed to fund the extra wages from its policing reserve and also voted to sign on to a new 20-year RCMP contract meant to give B.C. communities more control over the costs of policing.
Coun. Donovan Cavers argued for holding off on the contract for a week and consulting with residents about whether they wanted a local police force instead.
“I think that the RCMP are doing a wonderful job. For me, I think the issue is there hasn’t been any community discussion,” he said.
“It’s a 20 year contract and, based on that, I think a week more is warranted. It’s a very large decision for the community.”
However, other councillors noted the city has the option to opt-out of the contract with two years’ notice at any time, and any discussions on creating a local police force would be too rushed since the RCMP contract needed to be signed or turned down by the end of the month.
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