Cumberland Looks for New Police Options

Cumberland County is looking at possible options to replace the RCMP. 

At a special meeting yesterday, council directed its chief executive officer to review all options for police services and report back before then end of April.

The request for a review came after months of hearing serious and consistent concerns, from all corners of the municipality, about the level of resources committed to Cumberland County by the RCMP. 

The Mayor of Cumberland said, “Since we’ve come to office, we have been inundated with complaints about the lack of police presence across the municipality. It’s become clear to us that, with the staffing level being consistently, significantly below the approved compliment, this is a resource allocation issue at the RCMP national and provincial level.” 

Murray Scott added, “The municipality pays for the full compliment whether they are available for duty or not.” 

Council emphasised the review is in no way a reflection on the competence, dedication, or professionalism of the current RCMP members.

In fiscal 2021/22 the municipality paid just over $4.7 million in policing costs. The Department of Justice has advised that this will rise by 11.04 percent— $517,000— this year, totalling $5,218,000. This does not include a potential retroactive billing related to the unionisation of the RCMP ranks.

The review will follow the protocol set out by the Nova Scotia Department of Justice. The process will take 12 to 18 months. 

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