A change in the type of supervision auxiliary constables require has some Burnaby councillors worried how it will effect the bottom line.
In October, the director of the National Crime Prevention and Aboriginal Policing Services announced that as of Oct. 24 all auxiliary constables serving in RCMP detachments across the country would require direct supervision.
The new policy means that for every one or two auxiliary constable working, Burnaby RCMP will have to assign a regular member to supervise.
Coun. Pietro Calendino, chair of Burnaby’s community policing committee, was visibly upset at the committee’s meeting on Thursday night.
“I want to know what the city can do to express our discontent,” Calendino said.
The recently re-elected councillor said the policy change could mean a large cost increase to the city, especially if the ratio of supervision is one-to-one. Events like Hats Off Day, which rely heavily on work done by auxiliary constables, would likely require more than 20 regular members to be on site – and they’d all need to be paid.
The original policy allowed auxiliary constables to work with general supervision, meaningonly a few regular members of the Burnaby RCMP were required to supervise the auxiliary constables, which saved the city money at large events such as Remembrance Day, Hats Off Day and more.
Coun. Paul McDonell, who also sits on the community policing committee, suggested city staff draft a letter voicing its concerns with the policy change and, once approved, send it to Ottawa.
While a motion to draft a letter was approved by the committee, deputy city manager Lambert Chu took a moment to remind those present that Dave Critchley, officer in charge at Burnaby RCMP, was in negotiations with Ottawa to determine how many regular officers is acceptable supervision for the auxiliary members.
“The chief has the option to decide what level of supervision is required,” he told the committee.
The new policy is also currently under review by RCMP top brass in Ottawa.
In the meantime, staff will draft a letter voicing the city’s concerns and present it to city council and the community policing committee at a later date.
