The B.C. government will be spending $230 million over the next three years to help rural police forces and specialized units to have enough officers.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe, and my government is working on every front to protect our communities and make them stronger,” said premier David Eby in a release.
“As part of our Safer Communities Action Plan, we will help ensure that the RCMP can operate to its full capability to keep people safe. The actions today will help stabilize policing and provide our provincial police force with the staff resources they need to address public safety concerns head on.”
Money will go towards filling vacancies in rural police detachments in communities of less than 5,000 people, allowing provincially funded regional RCMP units to reach their fully authorized staffing levels of 2,602 officers and beefing up special units.
The specialized units include the major crimes section, the sexual exploitation of children unit, and the BC Highway Patrol.
Provincial officials said this will improve public safety by increasing the overall capacity of homicide and missing persons investigations.