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Growing Langford beefs up police amid crime concerns

Desperate to keep up with Langford’s rapidly growing population and struggling with chronic understaffing, West Shore RCMP is hiring four additional Mounties who will patrol trails, parks, special events and high-crime areas.
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Langford Mayor Stew Young.

Desperate to keep up with Langford’s rapidly growing population and struggling with chronic understaffing, West Shore RCMP is hiring four additional Mounties who will patrol trails, parks, special events and high-crime areas.

The new bicycle and special projects unit will focus solely on Langford, which is footing the $739,660 annual bill. The focus on trails and parks comes on the heels of three sex assaults in three years on the Galloping Goose trail and in nearby parks.

“It was very upsetting to me as the mayor when those stories were coming in about people not being safe on our trails,” said Langford Mayor Stew Young. “Those four bike patrols, it’s going to be extremely helpful in curbing a lot of those offences.”

No arrests have been made in two of the sexual assaults against women, one of which happened March 12 on the Galloping Goose near Pickford Road in Colwood and the other on March 3, 2015, in Langford’s Glen Lake Park. A man was arrested in connection with a June 2014 sexual assault against a woman near the Galloping Goose and Jacklin Road in Langford.

Young said the fentanyl crisis has taxed police resources, with officers responding to overdoses and trying to seize the harmful opioid through drug investigations. Police are also constantly keeping an eye on the biker clubhouse on Spencer Road, which is linked to the Devil’s Army, a Hells Angels puppet club.

Insp. Larry Chomyn, head of West Shore RCMP, was not available for an interview Friday, but said in a statement: “I am pleased that the City of Langford has taken this proactive decision to enhance the work of the RCMP in Langford and I know that the community will be well served by the addition of a full-time bicycle patrol unit.”

The $739,660 annual cost of running the four-officer unit, which includes one support person, will be paid for by a 2.77 per cent tax increase. Darren Kiedyk, Langford’s deputy chief administrative officer, said the tax hike could be offset by Langford’s growth rate. Langford is one of B.C.’s fastest growing communities, with a steady annual population growth rate of about five per cent.

Kiedyk said the majority of the tax increase will not kick in until 2018 as it will take time for the officers to be hired.

Including the four new officers, Langford will have 12 officers in the past two years.

Coun. Lillian Szpak, who heads Langford’s protective services committee, acknowledged that the municipality is playing catch-up as the growing population has far outpaced West Shore RCMP’s resources. “We’re playing a bit of catch-up here because we have grown very quickly,” Szpak said. “We have to have a firm strategic plan for adding members.”

View Royal Mayor David Screech said other municipalities in the Western Communities will decide on new officers after the West Shore RCMP releases the results of its general duty staffing analysis, which is due in the fall. “I’m surprised that Langford has chosen to add four officers before we see the results of that study,” Screech said.

In 2015, West Shore RCMP had just over 1,000 people for every officer, compared with the 413 residents per officer in Victoria and 760 in Saanich.

With the new officers added, Langford’s ratio will be 892 people for every officer, Szpak said. Langford’s policing costs per capita will be about $181. Victoria residents paid $454 per capita in 2015.

West Shore RCMP has 66 regular members and 23 civilian staff. The detachment would not say how many of those positions are vacant due to sick leave or administrative leave.

Young wants to see another eight to 10 officers hired in the next two years.

“We have to do this for morale, we have to do this for the safety of the community,” he said.

RCMP officers across the country have removed the yellow stripe from their pants as a silent protest in support of a union, which members hope would improve pay and address understaffing issues.

Young said he’s frustrated that Mounties earn less than their municipal counterparts and said it’s hard to keep Mounties in Langford long term when they are attracted by higher pay elsewhere.

“We need to tackle the wage difference so we don’t lose our officers to municipal forces in other parts of the region,” Young said.

kderosa@timescolonist.com