Richmond - The Editor, I am confused. I read in the paper that fellow Richmond motorists are worried about road safety and are calling for more enforcement; I read about shootings and murders right here in Richmond.
Richmond - The Editor, I am confused. I read in the paper that fellow Richmond motorists are worried about road safety and are calling for more enforcement; I read about shootings and murders right here in Richmond.I have heard that some Richmond councillors are calling for Richmond to start its own police department in an effort to get better policing.And then I read that council expects a $2.7 million surplus from RCMP wages alone! It seems to me that $2.7 million will pay for quite a few RCMP officers and this is not the first time we have had a surplus due to understaffing the police, as I recall this has happened every year for several years.We pay for police through our taxes, those positions are in the city budget, the members are not here to be paid, so the money goes back to the city and it's spent on things that did not make the budget the first time around.Fewer than the required number of police officers means fewer police to enforce traffic safety laws, fewer police to detect, solve and deter crime in general, it means longer wait times for 911 calls, it means more risk to police on the road and more risk to the community.Council needs to press the provincial government to fulfil the police contract and supply the members that we are paying for with our tax dollars.It is about getting what we are paying for, and it is about keeping our community safe. This is not a buzzword, it is a problem.Scott StewartRichmond
