Severity, not frequency, guides police decision

Re: “ERT acquires new armoured truck,” Oct. 18. Perhaps some members of Victoria city council have forgotten the murders of four RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe, Alta., in 2005 or the murders of three RCMP officers in Moncton in 2014, or perhaps they are not aware that the majority of police officers who die in the line of duty are shot.

Maybe they don’t understand that it is not the frequency of incidents such as these, but the severity of an incident that requires specific tools to make sure everyone who responds gets to go home. I think we all appreciate the financial oversight of police department budgets, but to suggest that this tool represents the militarization of the Victoria police department is absurd.

The suggestion that the RCMP or the military assume community-policing roles in high-risk incidents fails to understand that not all high-risk responses start that way, and the under-resourced RCMP might be busy responding to a high-risk situation in its own jurisdictions. As for the military using its considerable firepower to shoot at domestic criminals, I’m pretty sure the federal government would have a strong opinion on that topic.

Perhaps city council should limit this degree of oversight to its own pet projects, such as painting sidewalks and sewer projects and bike lanes and trips to China, and allow the experts to guide them on the purchase of one armoured truck.

The Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team has bought a light armoured vehicle for $320,635. Community police need vehicles such as these to protect themselves and citizens from harm, letter writers say.