The head of the B.C. RCMP says the force is revamping its recruiting process in a bid to tackle the provincial division’s highest vacancy rate in years.
The staffing shortage inside the B.C. RCMP currently sits about 8.9 per cent, more than double the 4.3 per cent elsewhere in Canada.
Those figures only cover so-called “hard vacancies,” representing positions that are unfilled. The force also must contend with hundreds of other “soft vacancies” owing to injury, stress leave, parental leave and other temporary issues.
In an interview with Global News, Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commanding officer of E-Division, pointed to several reasons for the high vacancy rate, including an uptick in retirements coming out of the pandemic, and a rise in anti-police sentiment.
“Policing has also become more challenging, more complex, and particularly more public facing in social media — I think in many cases the social narrative of policing, not just in this country but internationally, policing has often been vilified, I think in many cases unfairly so,” McDonald said.
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“That does have an impact on a person’s desire to join policing. In a large part its a noble profession, has a significant amount of public support. But a lot of people realize the weight that comes with that responsibility, and it can be challenging.”
To address the shortage, McDonald said the RCMP has hired a market research company to spearhead a national recruiting campaign due to be rolled out in the months ahead.
The force has also refined its recruiting program for experienced police officers, and the recently inked collective agreement for officers brings their pay range into a more competitive position with municipal departments.
McDonald said the RCMP was also turning to “pre-posting agreements” as a way to attract candidates from B.C. who want to work in B.C.
Previously, McDonald said, recruits coming out of Depot — the RCMP’s national training centre — would graduate facing the potential of deployment anywhere in Canada.
Pre-posting agreements, he said, allow B.C. candidates to be deployed in their home province after graduation — something he said may help a province known for its reputation as an expensive place to live.
“It is a burden to live here financially … if you’re from the Lower Mainland or B.C., you have the supports in place financially or family or socially that can help support you and help you thrive in this environment,” he said.
“So if you want to join the RCMP and you want to come back to B.C. and police in the LM, we’ll make that happen.”
McDonald also pointed to the provincial government’s commitment to spend hundreds of millions of dollars shoring up provincially-funded RCMP services, which cover policing in communities with under 5,000 residents, highway patrol, and specialized units that tackle things like major crimes and child exploitation.
The province has pledged $230 million over three years with the aim of eliminating 277 such vacancies, “which is unheard of and really unprecedented in the province,” McDonald said.
While McDonald maintained that the division is able to provide “adequate and effective” policing in the province, despite the vacancies, he acknowledged fewer resources can lead to greater physical and mental stress for those currently on the job.
“As your workload goes up, it has consequences to individuals,” McDonald said.
“When you do open those doors and people do raise their hand because they need help, we need to provide those services, or ensure we direct and encourage people to take those services — but of course that will affect policing and resources and policing on the front line.”