PREMIER ANNOUNCES 215 MORE RCMP OFFICERS TO FIGHT CRIME

VANCOUVER – The Province will add 215 RCMP officers in B.C. communities this year as part of a crime-fighting strategy that will see an additional $122 million invested in policing, corrections and courts over the next three years, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today at the Provincial Congress of B.C.

“British Columbians deserve to feel safe in their homes and in their communities,” Campbell said. “Police and law enforcement personnel across B.C. do the best they can every day to fight crime and keep us safe. But more resources are needed, and today we are responding.”

The funding for 215 additional RCMP officers means:

89 more police officers to fight serious and major crime;
14 more police officers to fight cyber-crime;
80 more police officers for rural communities and general policing; and,
32 more police officers for First Nations communities.

“Every day we hear about the spread of organized crime, about grow-ops in our communities and across the street from schools, about seniors being taking in by con artists at their door or about people preying on our children through the Internet,” Campbell said. “We need to ensure that the police on the front lines have the resources they need to root out criminals and the courts have the resources they need to prosecute them.”

“This is the biggest investment in new police officers for B.C. communities in over 20 years,” said Solicitor General Rich Coleman. “This funding builds on our other crime-fighting initiatives such as the Integrated Organized Crime Unit, the Amber Alert Program, and new policing technology – the PRIME system – that allows improved communications and record sharing between police across the province.”

There will be a total of $122 million in new funding over the next three years:

2005/06: $35 million ($30 million for police and corrections, $5 million for courts).
2006/07: $42 million ($32 million for police and corrections, $10 million for courts).
2007/08: $45 million ($34 million for police and corrections, $11 million for courts).

“Since September we have committed nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to promote public safety and fight crime in B.C. communities over the next three years,” Campbell said, noting that the new funding is in addition to the $120 million that will flow to municipalities over the next three years as a result of the Province’s commitment to return 100 per cent of traffic fine revenues to local governments.

Today’s crime-fighting initiatives are part of the Province’s Safer Communities Initiative that includes:

· 100 per cent of all traffic fines going to local government for crime prevention and policing.

· The Safe Streets Act and Trespass Act, which give police and property owners new tools for combating the harassment of seniors and other citizens on the streets.

· A new $84-million federal-provincial-local partnership to find innovative solutions to the problems of homelessness, mental heath and drug addiction.

· The federal-provincial health funding arrangement that will assist in providing additional mental health and addiction services across B.C.

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Media contact:	Mike Morton Press Secretary Office of the Premier 250 213-8218

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