St. Albert will not add any new police officers in 2013, but it will be asking the federal government for more than it needs in order to get as many officers as it requires.
Council on Monday endorsed the plan put forward by administration to ask Ottawa for a total of 61 RCMP officers. The city’s full complement is 54, but because of maternity and other leaves, as well as officer transfers, the detachment is seldom fully staffed.
“We struggled with getting the full complement we’ve asked for in the past,” Jardine said, calling the approach an “overask program to work towards what we have in the budget.”
In an interview earlier this month, Insp. Kevin Murray, commander of St. Albert RCMP detachment, said the local force only has an average of 48 officers available at any one time.
“We need to build up those additional positions and try to work towards that,” Murray said.
According to Murray, asking for five more officers than required would total 61 RCMP members. Given the historical vacancy rate of 10 to 13 per cent, that would mean between 54 and 56 members available for the detachment.
“What we’re trying to do is build up the force with that kind of cushion,” Murray said.
Council learned during a workshop with RCMP’s K Division during budget negotiations that the city only pays for the officers it actually uses. While the city is supposed to have 56 Mounties, it only pays for the 48 that actually work during the course of a budget year.
That means the city sees a surplus in money that is allocated for police officers but not spent. Typically that money is plowed back in to general revenues, but the idea of establishing a reserve fund to pay for new officers is starting to gain support on council.
That reserve account could also pay any costs if, by asking for 61 officers, the city actually ended with more than 56 RCMP members in any given year. Jardine said staff will prepare a policy along those lines for council review in 2013.
“It seems counter-intuitive to ask for more than you need in order to get the ones you do need,” said Coun. Wes Brodhead.
Asking for more officers also comes just a month after administration recommended hiring two new officers a year for the next three years, then withdrew the request for 2013, saying it couldn’t hope to fill those positions next year.
A new request for more officers will likely make it into the 2014 budget. These RCMP members would not be part of the overask program, but would boost the actual complement by two members each year.
