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(JOHN MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)

If more cops mean less crime then Kamloops has to dig deeper into its pocketbook.

Kamloops city council opted not to do that on Jan. 22.

A 7-2 vote has the city slowing its hiring spree after 25 more police officers were added to local ranks since 2021.

It started in early 2022 with an effort to hire five more cops per year until 2027 at a cost estimated around $190,000 per officer.

Councillor Katie Neustaeter said the previous council's decision came with intent to review changes each year, but that was "lost along the way." Though the hiring drive has been successful, it hasn't stopped a rising crime rate.

"It was to see whether metrics changed, what the need looked like. It was to see what social disorder looked like. I would suggest right now we need more social workers," Neustaeter said. "We need more feet on the ground who can do connective work on the frontlines."

Police largely don't prevent crime but respond to it, she said. And she wasn't the only voice challenging a further increase to RCMP funding which, at more than a quarter of the city budget, remains the single largest bill for Kamloops taxpayers.

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Costs have also gone up since 2022 to nearly $250,000 per officer after salaries, benefits and other costs like equipment.

City staff gave council options to pause hiring for a year or slash the annual input by half, while also warning that even unchanged it takes a year before successful recruits are even on the force.

Council voted to cut the fund in half but not before debating whether bringing on more police will solve crime problems.

Councillor Mike O'Reilly suggested Kamloops won't see improvements no matter how many officers are hired, blaming "catch and release" policies.

"I hear the frustrations from members," he said. "For lack of a better term, they're handcuffed and people are back on the streets before they finished the paperwork."

Kamloops gained attention last summer when it was named Canada's Crime Capital. It was a title local officials balked at and deemed it statistically unfair that Kamloops would be pitted against Canada's largest cities and that didn't address solely local crime trends.

Kamloops has seen its crime rate climb steadily over the last decade, followed closely by an increased in the number of RCMP officers, according to Statistics Canada.

On the table was a one-year deferral of the recruitment fund, but council opted instead to cut it in half. It will restart in full again in 2026 and the remainder will be made up in 2028.

Reflecting on how it would look to the public if Canada's crime capital opted to freeze the hiring effort, Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson said the City should stay the course.

"What we do now is going to help us in the future, so if we back off now, I think it's crazy," he said.

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Hamer-Jackson went on to erroneously suggest crime rates are high because "more people getting charged." In fact 2023 saw some of the fewest charges approved in Kamloops in 25 years. As for criminal files cleared, whether with criminal charges or not, Kamloops RCMP saw the lowest rate of completion since 1998, according to Statistics Canada.

Some complained the city has little if any oversight to direct RCMP expenditures, unlike a municipal police force. Councillor Nancy Bepple suggested the RCMP ranks have been bolstered enough and that it's time to watch for changes.

"I think at this point we have already added some members, we can take a pause," Bepple said. "And we also have to remember we've invested heavily in (Community Service Officers)."

Bepple has criticized the efforts to give added authority to bylaw officers, now referred to as community service officers. Local officials have lobbied the province to deem them peace officers to give them more authority. During Tuesday's RCMP hiring debate, however, she suggested it would be more economical to see what benefits the bolstered bylaw department brings before adding more police officers.

In early 2022, council voted on the basis there were 128 working officers in Kamloops, but a staff report this week pegged that year's roster at 118 officers. There are now 143 at the detachment, which is on-track but well below the 2027 goal of 154 officers.

Pinning down just how many officers are among local ranks has proved a difficult question for officials to answer, but city council was working on its "roadable" officer count. It refers to those on staff and ready to work, tallied at 143 for 2025.

Statistics Canada shows much higher figures for Kamloops as recently as 2023, which puts 155 officers at the detachment that year and likely includes those who are on leave.

Kamloops has more officers per capita since 2019 than it has through most of the last two decades. Nearly tied with Kelowna, both cities have around 150 officers per 100,000 people and sit below the national average which is closer to 180.

Bepple and Hamer-Jackson were the only two on council to vote against the 50% deferral in hiring funds, but for entirely opposing reasons. Hamer-Jackson said the funds shouldn't be cut, while Bepple wanted to see a one-year deferral.

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