RCMP cost ‘not working for small communities’: Oxford, N.S. reviews options – Halifax | 24CA News
Oxford, N.S. is taking over a evaluation of its policing companies, simply because the Municipality of Cumberland launches the same evaluation.
For Oxford Mayor Greg Henley, the explanation for the evaluation is straightforward.
“It’s sheer cost. It’s not really a knock against the local detachment. It’s the cost,” Henley mentioned, explaining that roughly 40 per cent of the city’s residential tax income is spent on policing.
Oxford is an inland rural city of simply over a thousand folks, situated proper off the Trans-Canada freeway in northwestern Nova Scotia.
The city has its personal authorities separate from the Municipality of Cumberland, which surrounds it geographically. It is the world’s largest producer of frozen wild blueberries and is dwelling to Oxford Frozen Foods, a serious employer within the area. The giant processing plant stands out among the many small houses and different companies on Main Street.
While it as soon as had its personal municipal police division, the city at the moment contracts the RCMP for policing, as is frequent in small rural communities all through Nova Scotia. Only 10 municipalities within the province have their very own police departments.
While Oxford has a regional RCMP detachment on the town, the mayor mentioned officers are sometimes swapped between branches throughout Cumberland County — a big, sparsely populated area of the province. It is located subsequent to Colchester County, the place the April 2020 mass taking pictures started.
Oxford pays for roughly three RCMP officers to cowl their neighborhood at an annual price of $560,000. The price elements out to simply over $400 per resident, which Henley says is greater than what residents of Halifax pay, noting that the low crime fee “makes it a lot safer in Oxford” than Halifax.
“The biggest issue is they’re unable to supply the coverage that we’re paying for due to the fact that they’re short-staffed. I don’t blame the officers around here,” Henley mentioned.
The Municipality of Cumberland is conducting its personal evaluation of policing and council has agreed to subject a request for proposals for police companies.
“If (Cumberland) decides to pull away from the RCMP… that will affect our decision,” Henley mentioned.
The city’s mayor mentioned Oxford council had initially began a policing evaluation about 4 years in the past, however debate just lately ramped up once more final fall.
“I think it’s been an ongoing process,” Henley mentioned. “And finally, it got to the point where all of a sudden we’ve got retroactive pay for the RCMP… We’re tapped out.”
The evaluation is only a approach of “opening doors and seeing what’s behind it,” Henley mentioned, noting that the method will take a number of years. Options that would come out of the city’s evaluation embrace remaining with an RCMP contract, combining police forces with a close-by city, or creating a brand new municipal police drive.
The close by cities with current unbiased police forces are Amherst and Truro, however they’re roughly 30 and 60-minute drives away, respectively. The neighbouring small city of Springhill disbanded its municipal police drive when it joined the Municipality of Cumberland in 2015 and has since been beneath RCMP policing.
If Oxford have been to contemplate its personal drive, Henley mentioned the city must think about the prices of a jail and patrol automobiles, neither of which the city at the moment has.
Henley mentioned he’s simply making an attempt to work out a greater deal for the city.
The price of policing is “just not working for small communities,” he mentioned.
Local opinions on RCMP policing in Oxford are blended.
Eric Mosher runs GJDE Enterprises, a present retailer on the town. The store is among the few remaining small companies downtown — a full of life splash of color amongst close by vacant storefronts.
Eric Mosher, proprietor of GJDE Enterprises in Oxford, N.S., spoke to Global News about how he desires RCMP to stay in Oxford.
Mosher heard in regards to the policing evaluation from his prospects however mentioned he’s proud of the RCMP on the town and that they’ve been useful the few instances he has wanted to name through the years.
“I think a lot of time, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. My store is kind of a nostalgic store, and that’s how I feel. Change isn’t necessarily a good thing for the sake of change,” Mosher mentioned.
Down Main Street in direction of the sting of city, Rosemarie Spencer was strolling to work alongside the empty, crumbling sidewalk as heavy automobile and truck visitors rushed by. She has lived in Oxford for a couple of 12 months and a half, immigrating from Jamaica for work.
“I want the RCMP to stay because definitely, I feel very safe here,” Spencer mentioned, noting that she had seen three RCMP automobiles go by on her stroll.
Rosemarie Spencer of Oxford, N.S., says she’s happy with RCMP policing.
She hasn’t heard of any main crimes and mentioned the city feels peaceable.
“I’ve lived somewhere else in Canada and I’ve never seen so much police around, so for me it’s a good thing seeing them.”
Not all residents are proud of the RCMP’s service, nonetheless. Fran Trenholm has been on the town for nearly 30 years and mentioned organizations can grow to be too complacent. She desires residents to have a vote on policing choices in Oxford.
Fran Trenholm of Oxford, N.S., is dropping confidence within the RCMP and helps change.
“My biggest issue with the RCMP is that they are supposed to be in service to us to make our community safe. And I don’t feel safe and a lot of people that I know around here don’t feel safe either.”
Trenholm mentioned that whereas relations with the RCMP have been “going downhill” for a while, a few of her mistrust comes from the police response to the 2020 mass casualty occasion.
“There’s just been so much go down with the RCMP and the public that it’s just not a very conducive relationship any longer. And I think we need change.”
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