The Codiac RCMP satellite office at 795 Main St. in Moncton was originally slated to open in June of 2022.
It’s now set to open in September or October of 2023.
Construction only started roughly a month and a half ago, according to Codiac Regional Policing Authority Chair Don Moore.
In an interview on Thursday, he said his organization was unable to find someone qualified to do the construction work throughout 2022 into winter 2023.
“It’s a complicated construction because it’s in the same facility as other organizations,” he said.
“The RCMP have very strict requirements on making sure that it has separate electrical and ventilation systems so it’s independent within that building.”
Downtown Moncton business owners are frustrated with the delays, as they have been calling for an increased police presence in the downtown core.
Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce CEO John Wishart said he thinks the satellite office will make a difference “in terms of feet on the street, in terms of law enforcement, and also the perception that there is some law enforcement downtown,” he said.
He said having more law enforcement would provide a temporary solution to the perceived increase in crime.
“The solution obviously is housing, addiction and mental health supports, but in the meantime while we work for that plan and wait for that plan, having more law enforcement on the street is the short term answer,” he said.
He said businesses were also concerned about the public perception often seen on social media that downtown Moncton was unsafe.
“I think if you talked to some of the retailers they’d say, some of their customers, maybe more elderly customers are not comfortable coming down especially at night, but then you talk to other (business owners) who say it hasn’t had that much of an impact,” he said.
The satellite office was originally envisioned as a temporary solution to deal with overcrowding at the current Codiac RCMP headquarters at the east end of Main Street.
While Moore said no final decision had been made, there is a chance the satellite office could close when construction is completed in 2025 on the new headquarters located on Albert Street, near West Main Street.
“Right now, what we’re looking at is to see how this works out for us,” Moore said.
“We’re excited by the possibility that this could be a permanent space for us as well in addition to the new police station, but we’re not making that decision anytime soon,” he said.
Wishart said the Chamber thinks there’s a need for a permanent community policing presence in the middle of downtown.
“We’re moving the police presence from one end of Main Street to the other end of the downtown core. Something in the centre, where more of the activity takes place (…) I think there needs to be some sort of permanent residence,” he said.
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