There was an “elephant in the room” at the West Shore RCMP’s town hall meeting: Langford’s recent decision to fund four new officers in their 2025 budget, instead of the requested five.
While the community was gathered to discuss their thoughts on policing priorities for the year ahead with RCMP leadership representatives, the conversation often strayed into local politics, with a number of residents noting their dissatisfaction with Langford’s decision.
But it was Colwood’s Coun. Kim Jordison, who took direct aim at the “elephant in the room.”
Criticizing Langford for not adhering to the cop-to-population ratio – a guide used to consider how many officers are needed for a community – Jordison called on her neighbours to “pay their share.”
“It's not up for debate, it's what is required,” she said, referencing the ‘cop-to-pop’ ratio as “an agreement between municipalities.”
"I don't agree with each municipality not holding their own weight. And it will affect my community, it will affect View Royal, it will affect all the communities, and I'm not prepared to take on that with our community.”
The decision to increase RCMP funding to allow for four new cops instead of five was one of many made by Langford in an effort to reduce the tax hike for residents. Starting with a proposed 14.51 percent increase, Langford councillors finished with a 9.77 percent hike, a figure the city said acknowledged the "uncertainty of current financial conditions and the need to be prudent."
The City of Langford has also hit back at the recent criticism, explaining they are “committed to ensuring public safety,” and supporting the RCMP.
“Langford's 2025 ‘pop-to-cop’ ratio is the lowest it has been in the last five years,” said a city spokesperson in an emailed statement.
With 74 officers, Langford's pop-to-cop ratio will stand at one officer per 788 of the population. The city has a target pop-to-cop ratio of 725:1.
In Colwood – who will fund one additional officer this year, bringing their total to 24 – there will be one officer to every 923 residents, compared to the target ratio of 850:1.
Across the border in View Royal, the pop-to-cop ratio stands at 971:1 – the target ratio is 875:1.
“The City of Langford values its strong and successful working relationship with the RCMP, West Shore communities and the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations and is dedicated to maintaining strong support and funding for police services, ensuring safety and prosperity for our thriving community," added the city spokesperson.
Addressing the tension in the room at the RCMP town hall, one Langford resident asked Supt. Todd Preston, the officer in charge of West Shore RCMP, if the concern for public safety was justified.
“I feel like there's a feeling in the community that the RCMP will not be able to safely support the community this year because of budget decisions," said one Langford resident addressing the tension in the room. "Is that what we're looking at?”
While acknowledging more can be done with a larger police force, the superintendent offered some words of reassurance.
“Collaboratively we'll work together to make sure that we are keeping your community safe, and we will work with the resources that we have,” said Preston.
“We will do our absolute best for you, I know that the men and women in uniform, oftentimes to their own health and peril, they will give everything they've got for this community.”
Despite the simmering tension, the West Shore community also used the forum as an opportunity to share their thoughts on where the RCMP should focus its efforts in 2025.
Supt. Preston and Inspector Stephen Rose presented to the 60-plus strong crowd a list of eight priorities for the West Shore RCMP, which included reducing property crime, deterring youth crime and enhancing best practices for sex-based offences.
Attendees were asked to select their key concerns from the list, with many highlighting ‘organized crime and drug trafficking’ and the RCMP’s ‘mental health and crisis response teams’ as their priorities.
For Langford resident Mike Wignall it was “downtown crime and safety” top of his list.
"It feels like it's just a matter of time before something bad happens,” said the local business owner. “Either that I get a break-in or one of my staff gets assaulted and that for me, that's big time … it’s deteriorating chaos out there.”
But for others, it was hard to narrow down the list.
“When I look at these eight, I can't pick one to be the most important,” said Hans Frederikson. “They're all important to me because they're all interwoven. We can't have one without the other. We’ve got to deal with them all.”
One thing the attendees did agree on was their gratitude to the West Shore RCMP for their work in the community.
“You guys are our safety, you keep our community on the rails and this detachment in particular … it’s hard to believe you guys are a national police force because you really feel like our police force,” said Wignall. “Your openness and calmness and approachability, I think is priceless, and so thank you for all of that.”
“You should start a GoFundMe page,” joked another resident, sparking laughter in the room.
To capture more feedback, the RCMP will also be sharing the list of eight priorities for 2025 with the wider community via an online survey.
