Core Services: Public Safety and the Need for Adequate Policing

I have a lot of respect for those who choose policing as their career - it is not an easy job, and in Victoria it is a job that seems to have been made more challenging in recent years. The policing budget for Victoria has been kept artificially low, with every request made being put under an administrative microscope. The argument has been that the resources used in policing are not available for other services. To the degree those other services are within the scope of the municipal government to provide, this is true. Money spent on policing, isn't money that can be spent on improving roads and sidewalks. Money spent on policing can't be spent on collecting garbage and recycling. Money spent on policing cannot be spent on improving local recreation facilities. 

However, if enough money isn't spent on policing, public safety is put in jeopardy. If people don't feel safe spending time downtown, they do not go downtown - they choose to go to Oak Bay or Saanich or the West Shore. If people cannot get an emergency response within an adequate amount of time, they may be left having to deal with difficult situations on their own, often with outcomes that might be less than ideal and may put people's property, health and well-being at risk. If people feel as though they can get away with committing a crime because the policing resources simply are not there - more crime is committed, resulting in a further deterioration of public safety. Businesses and residents grow weary of replacing goods stolen and windows broken. They grow weary of increasing insurance premiums and deductibles - and ultimately are left feeling like those responsible for ensuring services are adequate have neglected their duties.

In Victoria, it's true we spend more on policing per capita than any other municipality within the CRD. It's also true that we have the highest cops to population ratio than any other municipality with the CRD. It's also true that Victoria has the highest crime severity index in the CRD - and that our police services carry the highest caseloads in the CRD. Further, it's true that 80 percent of our bylaw resources are spent addressing the needs of the unhoused population (estimated to be about 1.5% of the total population in Victoria) and that our bylaw officers often require police support to undertake their jobs. 

To a certain degree, it is not reasonable to expect that Victoria's policing costs would be similar to other municipalities within the CRD. That would be like expecting the per patient expenses of those served by family physicians to be the same as those who present to the Emergency Department of a hospital. The very nature of Victoria, the hub of a metropolitan area where the majority of commercial activity and social service activity is concentrated - means that Victoria's public safety expenditures are going to be higher than surrounding municipalities. Our public safety needs are acute - and regional in nature, as our police services are not exclusively provided to residents alone, but also many non-residents who find themselves in our city for work or recreation. Further, it is also reasonable to expect that those committing crimes in the City of Victoria may also not be residents of the city, but rather are here because the city is the place with the most opportunity to engage in criminal activity.

Despite our expenditures and our relatively high ratio of cops to population, our City is in a public safety crisis - and we need to address the current issue with adequate resources, AND we need to develop a strategic plan so that going forward we can ensure public safety for both those who live in Victoria and those who visit it for either work or recreational purposes while minimizing our need for police resources. Our current situation is not sustainable and is causing a great deal of harm to those serving as police officers, residents and visitors alike.

A few preliminary ideas on addressing our public safety needs:

1. Cultivate an anti-crime culture - this starts be expecting people to have respect for the city and its laws and bylaws. It includes identifying areas where crime is prevalent and strategically deploying resources to reduce the incidence of crime in those areas. It means keeping an eye out for your neighbours - and being aware of specific risks. It means improving lighting and CCTV services where appropriate. It means reporting crime when it happens. It means improving security (ie. secure bike storage facilities) and making Victoria a place where criminals have a difficult time conducting their activities. Many surrounding municipalities do not have the issues with crime that Victoria has, simply because they have environments that are not conducive to crime.

2. Improve road safety. When motor vehicle collisions happen, police are often dispatched to respond. To the degree that there are fewer collisions, there is less need for police response.

3. Work towards amalgamating police services in the CRD. Imagine if the ED was never seen as being just one part of the health system - addressing the problems and challenges faced in the ED would be nearly impossible. By amalgamating police services in the CRD, there would be some economies of scale, but more importantly it would be a step towards recognizing that the police services used in Victoria are regional in nature and serve residents from across the region. Further, if police services were regional, rather than municipal there would be far less likelihood of a single municipality jeopardizing the interests of the region as a whole. Lastly, it would ensure that funding for public safety resources was fairly distributed throughout the region.

4. Continue to advocate for better provincial and federal responses to both the opiod and housing crisis while doing a better job of managing the impacts of those crises at the local level.