Tignish council raises concerns about RCMP officers’ residency
TIGNISH – Elected officials here have concerns that police officers patrolling their streets don't also live in the area.
A Tignish town councillor recalled when two or three RCMP officers from the West Prince detachment lived in Tignish.
“It’s not like it was before,” Coun. Lloyd Gavin commented.
He was following up on concerns raised by Tignish Mayor Allan McInnis about RCMP officers not residing within the detachment area, let alone in Tignish.
“It makes a difference when you have an RCMP officer in here, playing hockey, knowing the guys and hanging out. It just stands to reason. It’s worth a million dollars.
"Everybody knows everybody. It’s better than if you've never seen them before. Nobody wants to come up and talk to them.”
West Prince RCMP detachment member, Const. J-P. Coté, was in attendance for a portion of the recent monthly meeting and presented the RCMP report.
Mayor McInnis then raised the concern he’d heard, that only one RCMP member from the detachment resides in the West Prince region.
The constable did not dispute McInnis’ number, but confirmed he lives in the area.
He acknowledged there was a time when officers on call had to live within a certain distance of their detachment but, with 24hour policing, that has changed.
“The members have the right to live wherever they want to as long as they show up for their 12-hour shift. That’s the difference,” he said.
Sherry MacDougall, communications officer for the RCMP in P.E.I. declined to comment about the number of officers residing within the detachment area.
“That’s a police officer safety issue and it’s not something we talk about in today’s world,” she insisted.
“Times have changed, policies change, but our policing remains the same,” MacDougall said.
“What matters is who works there, who shows up to work there, so, where they’re living, it doesn’t factor into the policing necessarily.”
Asked for its position on RCMP officers’ residency and whether it believes there is benefit in having officers reside in the area they serve, the Department of Justice provided a brief response, pointing out all provincial policing agreements with the RCMP are largely the same.
“The agreement currently in place is to provide policing services to communities across the Island that do not have a municipal force. In the recent budget, there was an increase of funding to secure more officers to address the needs of a growing population. We know that Prince Edward Island is one of the safest provinces in Canada and that's in great part due to the hard working women and men who serve our communities.”
Mayor McInnis acknowledged during the meeting a major improvement in policing hours in the town for the past two months and said he sympathized with officers for the summer when staffing numbers were low.
“You guys are doing the best you can with what you have,” he told the officer.
McInnis said he plans to have a conversation with the provincial government about the months when reported policing hours were lower than the town’s expectations under the extended policing contract.