The City of Richmond is going on a hiring blitz of police and firefighters.
Richmond’s 2019 proposed operating budget and five-year plan call for the hiring of 107 police officers and firefighters.
Broken down, that’s 51 additional RCMP officers, 20 support staff, and 36 more firefighters over the next three years.
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Mayor Malcolm Brodie says Richmond has the lowest police officer-to-resident ratio in the region, and he wants to see more “boots on the ground.”
“We’re looking at areas like having more officers on general duty to be proactive, especially when you talk about property crime and the like.”
Right now Richmond has 225 RCMP officers.
The overall proposed tax hike is 5.3 per cent, with just over half of that going to fire and police costs.