A consultant report indicates the Codiac RCMP’s new headquarters, which won’t open until 2025, won’t have sufficient space to accommodate growth and will become too small by 2044.
It was part of a report presented to Moncton, N.B., city council on Thursday to evaluate policing services in the region.
Robert Taylor, vice-president of consulting group Perivale+Taylor, told reporters on Thursday that the conclusion was based on population growth projections.
Moncton is the fastest-growing city in the country, according to data from Statistics Canada.
The City of Moncton is at the helm of the construction of the new headquarters.
In an emailed statement, City of Moncton spokesperson Isabelle LeBlanc said a previous study offered different conclusions.
“The two space assessments used different sets of assumptions in calculating the total space needed,” the statement read.
“The assessment conducted in support of the Public Safety Policing Services Study, which was released on Thursday, was based on policing services generally, while the one conducted to support the plan and design of the new policing facility in Moncton was a detailed study focused specifically on the needs of our current police services model and its projected growth over time.”
She added that the facility “could be expanded to the west or services could be accommodated via satellite offices.”
A new Codiac RCMP satellite office on Moncton’s Main Street will be opening in “early November,” according to Don Moore, chair of the Codiac Regional Policing Authority.
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That office was originally slated to open in June of 2022 before various construction-related delays pushed its opening date back.
Moore said he sees more satellite offices in the region’s future.
In response to the study’s findings, he said that “2044 is a long time out.”
“And having a clear understanding on the use of police officers and the use of civilian roles, and having them all be in one location … I would be surprised if that’s still the model going forward,” he said.
He said satellite offices could be a possibility in Riverview, Dieppe and Moncton’s north end.
“Creating satellite offices in different parts of our region makes more sense,” he said.
“The other aspect would be the new police station doesn’t necessarily need to have all the specialized services and training components, those can be in other areas as well.”
He said the civilian board hadn’t had time to “digest” the entirety of the lengthy report, and its suggestion that Moncton keep the Codiac RCMP rather than create its own municipal police force.
He said they had meetings scheduled over the next few months to go over it.
“We’re also waiting for the analysis from the three municipalities as well,” he said.
The Codiac RCMP is funded by Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe, with the lion’s share of the funding coming from Moncton.
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