The local RCMP is asking council to consider funding for a new officer who would focus exclusively on sexual assault and domestic violence.
RCMP Insp. Jeffrey Christie made the case to councillors during a budget workshop in December. Squamish Fire Rescue is also requesting funding for a new position.
Christie said the RCMP has determined that there would be enough cases to occupy a full-time officer. He said many of the files are a “unique type of investigation” and have complicating factors like spousal dependence.
He said the specialized position would allow the officer to focus on best practices and build relationships with the hospital and support organizations.
“Having a specialized investigator over time will also boost the overall effectiveness of the detachment, because that expertise will cascade down to the general duty members,” he said.
“Here’s an opportunity, should council feel itself is in a position to invest in policing, that could benefit the community by establishing this dedicated investigator that would really, over time, become a leader in terms of all the skills to investigate to these types of files.”
In 2016 there were nine incidents of adult sexual assault reported to the RCMP in Squamish, and three people were charged, according to Stats Can. Christie said Squamish doesn’t generally have higher rates of domestic violence or sexual assault than comparable towns.
He also referenced the Globe and Mail’s “Unfounded” investigation and the literature suggesting that incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault are underreported across the country.
The cost of the new position is estimated at $167,247.
Whistler doesn’t have a similar dedicated officer, according to Christie, but he said the volume of cases would make it too difficult to share costs with the resort.
This year both the RCMP and the Squamish Fire Rescue are both asking for a new full-time position.
For cost reasons, the district tries to alternate spending each year for new police or firefighting positions, according to Mayor Patricia Heintzman.
“We’re just taking in all the different priorities,” she said. “Last year council made a conscious thought to add either a fire person or an RCMP. We want to do it alternating years, but this year we have a request from both, so council will need to make a determination.”
The fire service has requested an additional captain to manage the demands of training and managing volunteer firefighters.
The new position was recommended back in 2015 as part of a larger planning document, and would ease week-long shifts and extra training hours, according to the budget document.
“This extra work and the added mental strain associated with on-call shifts have the potential to create environments more prone to the development of mental health issues,” reads the document.
The total estimated cost for the new fire-fighting position is around $94,766.
“In theory all of these positions are important, but we do need to do this in a strategic manner. So that is where council is at now, we haven’t made a decision at this point,” said Heintzman.
The Chief reached out, but no one from the Howe Sound Women’s Centre was available to comment prior to press deadline.
