The province says it won’t pick up Victoria’s additional policing costs for officers who have been patrolling in tent city.
Acting Police Chief Del Manak has told Victoria councillors that he was in negotiations with the province, trying to recover $90,000 in costs to station officers 12 hours a day within the encampment on the Victoria courthouse lawn.
But the province, which owns the courthouse property, says it has no intention of paying costs that are a municipal responsibility under the Police Act.
“The province will not be covering policing costs related to the encampment site. Under the Police Act, municipalities with populations of more than 5,000 are required to pay for the costs of maintaining law and order in the municipality. This includes adequately funding police to enforce municipal bylaws, the criminal law and the laws of British Columbia,” it said in an email in response to media inquiries.
Coun. Chris Coleman called the provincial response disappointing.
“It’s frustrating for us. We agreed to do and pick up the cost of the policing in the three block circle around the [tent city] area. The site itself is supposed to be managed by the province. When they weren’t willing to do that, we had to send police in,” Coleman said.
Coleman noted that when the encampment was in its infancy last fall with fewer than 20 tents, Victoria police advised the province it should address the camping before it became entrenched. The province did not act and the tent city grew.
Victoria police put extra foot patrols in the neighbourhood around tent city beginning May 21 after council approved additional funding of $113,000. Beginning in June, officers were stationed for 12 hours a day within the camp itself, Manak said.
About $50,400 of the $113,000 budget has been spent on the neighbourhood patrol. It has cost about $90,000 for the officers in the encampment. Those costs are being covered through the police department’s operating budget, which Manak is trying to recover.
Manak said both neighbourhood policing and policing within the encampment have been successful initiatives.
Over the past eight months, almost 300 units of transitional and permanent housing have been created by the province for tent city residents. That includes the purchase of three buildings and nearly $26 million in funding for spaces and services.
Some of those spaces have been in use for months, including 40 spaces at My Place shelter on Yates Street, 50 spaces at Choices Transitional Home in View Royal and 38 at the former Mount Edwards Care facility on Quadra Street. There are 140 units of supportive housing being prepared at the Central Care Home facility on Johnson Street.
Coleman acknowledged the province has come to the table with millions of dollars for new housing units, and said he hopes discussions between the police and the province about the policing costs will continue.
This month, B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson ordered the camp on the courthouse property be shut down as of Aug. 8.
