The Victoria Police Department is docking its boats.
The decision to decommission the marine response unit, which consists of two vessels known as Mike 1 and Mike 2, was part of a months-long review of the department, according to an internal email to staff from Chief Frank Elsner. “We can no longer provide stand-alone services such as MRU at the expense of our core, land-based mandate,” the email said.
In an interview, Elsner said the unit duplicates services provided by other agencies. Both boats need to be replaced, and he estimated the cost at $250,000. “That’s just not a cost we can absorb into our organization at this point.”
Operational costs, not including staffing, are about $70,000 annually, he said. About a dozen officers have marine training and share part-time duties on the unit. “The soft costs are officers not available for regular duties or even training,” Elsner said. There will be no layoffs.
For marine assistance, Victoria police plan to call on other agencies such as the Victoria and Esquimalt fire departments, the Victoria harbour master, Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue and the RCMP — each of which has a marine component — although no formal partnership is in place yet.
“Partnering with other agencies will allow us to maintain or enhance our services while being fiscally responsible, using funds previously invested in the MRU to support other critical areas in our department, such as our new radio system,” the email said.
The agreements would not include payment from Victoria police to its partners, Elsner said.
Mike 1 and Mike 2 will be decommissioned once the partnerships are established.
While Elsner said public safety will not suffer from the decision, not everyone agrees. Victor Bell, who served in the department for 30 years, said Mike 1 and Mike 2 helped save a number of lives. “It was seven lives by the time I left,” said Bell, who served with Victoria police until 2006.
Bell was among a team of officers who spent years advocating for the boats in the late 1990s. Both were donated to the department by private groups, including CIBC and Thrifty Foods, to ensure a police presence on the water, he said.
Serge Vidalis, a former constable who joined Victoria police after serving in the navy, said he responded to everything from missing-person reports to threats of suicide. In one case, Victoria police arrested a suspect in an armed robbery who fled along the shoreline. “Just because you hit the waterline, it doesn’t mean you don’t have an obligation to respond,” Vidalis said.
Vidalis said he’s concerned partner agencies will have their own priorities and law enforcement may be neglected. “The jurisdiction that employs those units will hold priority.”
