Victoria's Police Chief is making the case to hire 6 more officers and two more civilian staff members.
"We haven't had a staff increase in the last 7-years and our communities, both in Victoria and Esquimalt, have grown," says Chief Del Manak. He recently addressed a budget workshop and also made the case on the CFAX afternoon drive program. "There are so many additional demands placed on us that we need the extra resources in order to be responsive and provide good policing service."
Chief Manak says population growth is only one of the reasons. He also cited examples such as the overdose crisis, an increase in mental health calls, and the need for officers to enforce camping-in-parks bylaws.
"These resources are for the front lines. We heard loud and clear from the community when he did our community business survey that they would like to see more police walking the beat, more visibility."
Vic-PD is looking for a $2.5-million dollar boost to their budget, but it's not all for new staff. The department's request also includes salary and benefit increases, policing for special events, and money for an intelligence unit. The new staff make up $870,000 of the request.