Town set to fight for policing subsidy

Sackville will join the fight with Metro Moncton to try and receive a subsidy from the federal government that would help offset rising policing costs in the community.
Mayor Pat Estabrooks says she will pitch the town's case to government officials at a meeting this week in Fredericton, although she admits it may not be an easy sell.
"There are a few differences between us and Moncton," said Estabrooks. "We have to remember they were forced into that (an RCMP contract). We chose."
The federal police force was foisted upon the Moncton region more than a decade ago when the city's municipal force was dismantled through provincial legislation. However, Sackville adopted an RCMP force willingly in June 2003 after several months of cost comparisons and contentious debate.
Metro Moncton and Sackville are the only two municipalities in the country that have made the switch to RCMP policing without receiving the 10 per cent subsidy the other towns receive from the federal government. Sackville would see a return of about $150,000 per year if the town were to receive the federal funding.
Estabrooks said when Sackville's municipal force was disbanded in favour of RMCP services nearly six years ago, the members of the council at the time were aware the town did not qualify for the subsidy because the grant was based on population.
Only communities with a population of under 5,000 were eligible.
But Estabrooks insisted that population should not play a factor in the decision to award the subsidy.
"It's a federal police service. Population should not make a difference," she said. "I see no reason why we should not be included in that."
She also pointed to the fact that Sackville's situation is unique in that the local RCMP officers are being shared with the surrounding rural communities.
The town houses both a rural and municipal RCMP detachment with officers at both stations working collectively, according to Estabrooks.
"We share our officers . . . so I think we should receive that 10 per cent benefit," she said.
Estabrooks said the subsidy could at least help offset some of the policing contract costs every year.
Since 2004, the contract costs have gone up an average of 3.7 per cent every year; the cost per officer has risen from $105,000 five years ago to this year's pricetag of $123,000. Sackville has been able to keep its policing budget at a minimum every year, however, because it has yet to fill its full complement of 10 officers that is budgeted for every year.
Estabrooks said it's difficult for the town not to have a say on costs within its own budget.
"On any line item (in the budget), we have to be able to have control," she said. "But if you have RCMP (contract), you'll never have that control."
The mayor admits she's not sure of what the costs would have been had the town maintained its municipal police force. However she noted that municipal officials would have at least had some control of annual increases to the officers' salaries.
Dean Secord, president of the New Brunswick Police Association, would tend to agree.
In a recent letter to the Moncton mayor and council, Secord stated that one of the main reasons for higher costs with the RCMP is the substantial difference in the municipal officers' wage rates.
During a recent cost comparison review (conducted by the NBPA) between Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe policing and Saint John-Rothesay-Quispamsis' municipal forces, it was determined that the total cost per RCMP officer in the Metro Moncton area was more than $41,000 higher than a municipal police officer in the Saint John area.
This allows for a total of 55 more officers patrolling the Saint John-Rothesay-Quispamsis region for virtually the same budget, stated Secord.
"We believe that the design of the federal RCMP service is not best suited for contract municipal policing," wrote Secord.
"This has been supported by a number of studies, the Auditor General and Canadian Police Chiefs Association, all of which is outlined in the new book Dispersing the Fog by author and investigative journalist Mr. Paul Palango."
Sackville town council has not been idle when it comes to reviewing the cost-efficiency of the RCMP in relation to municipal policing.
In fact, in 2006, council met with CUPE representatives - the local union that represented the town's former police officers - to hear a presentation on the potential savings of returning to the municipal force.
Members of the council at the time reviewed the figures and concluded that the savings were not as great as the union would have led them to believe, particularly since the RCMP seemed to be able to operate as efficiently with less officers.
Inspector Mike O'Malley, the RCMP's performance coordinator, explained at the time that the local RCMP detachment was operating with a contingent of 10 or less officers and was still providing 24-hour, seven-day-a-week coverage.
As well, the cost-per-officer included a wide range of services, including emergency dispatch, training, equipment, medical and dental, radio dispatch, and other associated costs.
O'Malley said the town was also incurring savings through reduced insurance costs and liability, no solicitor fees, or administrative costs.