The cost of rural policing is going up by 8 per cent this year and next bringing the price of keeping the Town of Davidson protected to just under $36,000 in 2012 and over $38,000 in 2013.
The cost of policing the towns of Hanley and Craik, which both have an RCMP detachment, is going up to under $30,000 this year and close to $32,000 in 2013 for Hanley and under $27,000 for 2012 and around $29,000 the next year for Craik.
“We’re happy with the service,” said Gary Edom, Town of Davidson administrator. “We paid much more than that years ago. We paid over $100,000 years ago.”
Edom said the town used to have to contract out a man and a half from the RCMP for 60 hours a week, which is why the costs were so high. He said that when the formula for tabling up policing costs was changed for the 1999 budget year, the town then only had to pay about a third of the original bill.
The price of having the RCMP look after Davidson is now based on a per capita rate. It has increased to $35.05 per person between April 1 and Dec. 31 in 2012 compared to the 2011 rate of $32.45, which ended March 31 of this year. For 2013, the rate will rise to $37.85.
With a population of 1,025 in Davidson, the annual cost to the town comes to $35,259.96 for the final nine months of 2012 from $33,261.25 a year ago. In 2013 that price tag will rise to $38,796.25 with the same population size.
“The rates haven’t changed since 2006,” said Katherine Geldart, director of financial services and risk management for policing at the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice. She said the size of the increase is a policy decision and was put forward by the provincial government in this past budget.
The Town of Hanley will see its bill go up to $29,023.26 in 2012 with a population size of 522 from $27,378.90 a year ago. In 2013, that figure will jump to $31,935.96. They pay $56.65 per capita this year and $61.18 in 2013, up from the 2011 rate of $52.45. Their rates are higher than Davidson because they have an RCMP detachment in the town.
“We have to wonder what we’re paying for,” said Darice Carlson, administrator for the Town of Hanley, referring to the small detachment in the town. “It’s not really a detachment as there is no manned office. Currently, the majority of calls made to this detachment get redirected to the Saskatoon office for action. If a decision was made to close this detachment, it would certainly be cheaper for the community, but it is certainly not what the citizens would wish for.
“We have and are continuing to work with the officers that live in town to be more proactive with policing in the community, but even though members live here, they haven’t been able to show their presence due to duties in the other areas of the detachment at times.”
To read more please see the Sept. 3 print edition of The Davidson Leader.