Policing numbers are concerning
A member of O’Leary Town Council suggested this week the staffing shortage currently existing within the Prince District RCMP is a public safety concern. He’s probably not far off the mark.
An RCMP officer conceded to town councils in West Prince that Prince District RCMP is operating at around 50 per cent of its staffing complement. Officers from elsewhere in the system, including reservists and members of other special units have been called in to help staff shifts.
Sickness and injury accounts for some of the shortage.
When numbers are low, it puts added pressure on the active officers, and that can lead to other injuries or burnout. Care needs to be taken to prevent that. The municipalities are concerned because they are not getting the hours of protection they say they are paying for. But the RCMP is responsible for more than just the municipalities. If officers can’t be present in the municipalities they are contracted to protect, then they can’t be out on the highways and the sideroads as often as they used to be, either.
Yes, they will respond to calls for service, but from where? How long might it take to get there when resources are stretched thin? The likelihood of officers just showing up when an unruly crowd is gathering in a parking lot somewhere is less when numbers are low and there is a call for service somewhere else.
Sometimes the public just needs to know the RCMP is out there, anywhere. It helps to take away that urge to speed, rip around or to cause a disturbance. Municipalities have a choice, though; they can drop out of their extended service contracts and employ a town police force. That’s costly, but it is an option that unincorporated communities don’t have. The best option would be for the national police force to get its numbers back up, in Prince District and across the country. That could take some time and might entail a bigger recruitment push.
In the meantime, though, the public can do its part by encouraging officers who are out on shift and letting them know their vital service is appreciated.
FASTER, BETTER INTERNET? IT’S ABOUT TIME
The federal and P.E.I. governments made an ambitious announcement on Friday: Prince Edward Island will have the best provincewide internet service of any province in Canada by 2021.
And, it’s about time. So, no great applause here. For such a small province and with the highest population density in Canada, Prince Edward Island should have already had Canada’s best interest service. There have been promises before that never fully materialized.
Many rural Islanders were left waiting and hoping. Friday’s announcement of a promised $74 million investment that will give 30,000 residents and businesses, mostly in rural areas, access to internet service which is, in many cases, 10 to 50 times faster than what they currently have certainly helps restore that hope.
Now it’s up to the internet companies to deliver. The province, which is investing $3.5 million, is promising to closely monitor their progress. This time let’s make it happen.