Northern Sunrise County says over $116,000 will be added to next year’s budget. The increase will come from a change in the province’s policing funding model. On Wednesday, Justice Minister and Solicitor General, Doug Schweitzer announced a funding boost of over $286 million to hire approximately 300 more RCMP officers.
Under the former Provincial Police Services Agreement (PPSA), communities with populations under 5,000 people had their police bill covered by the province. The new formula will see municipalities pay 10 percent of the cost starting next year, 15 percent in 2021, 20 percent in 2022, and then the municipal share would be 30 percent in 2023.
Northern Sunrise County Reeve, Carolyn Kolebaba, says there is a need for more officers at the Peace River RCMP detachment. “It is sad that we need more policing, that we can’t curb the underlying factors of crime,” says Kolebaba. “However, if we are going to pay for this, we want the policing coverage. The government says it will be front-line feet on the ground. In rural crime fighting, that is more-or-less what we would like to see.”
Kolebaba also says if the county is going to pay a portion of policing costs, it wants input. “I want to ensure we have input into the policing model; where they are at and what they are doing.”
-Kenny Trenton, Trending 55 Newsroom
