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Police data centre eyed

Central facility comes at cost to municipal taxpayers
File photo
Squamish RCMP will become a part of Canada’s first real-time intelligence centre.

 

RCMP want Squamish to be a part of Canada’s first centralized real-time intelligence centre, but it comes at a cost.

The facility will roll all police detachments’ and municipal forces’ crime information into a 24/7 centre manned by 43 officers and staff, Supt. Brad Haugi told District of Squamish officials at Committee of the Whole on Tuesday (April 22). The Lower Mainland District Investigative Services Officer said the new centre would be able to relay that information to officers in the field as crimes unfold. 

“It’s a new model for this country,” Haugi said, noting that currently, 19 separate databases are held with five separate organizations in B.C.

A lack of such an intelligence-sharing body was identified by Missing Women Inquiry Commissioner Wally Oppal as a key reason serial killer Robert Pickton was able to target so many victims. The centre will focus on gang crimes, violent and emotional persons, and sex offenders.

The facility’s funding will be covered 50 per cent by municipalities, 30 per cent by the provincial government and 20 per cent by the federal government. For Squamish, the payment works out to $13,000 for this fiscal year, climbing to $24,000 the following year, Haugi said.

The RCMP is doing upgrades it should have completed years ago, Coun. Susan Chapelle said. Policing is a federal responsibility and the centre sounds as though it is filling in a technological gap, she noted. 

“Who is ultimately responsible for keeping your systems up to date?” Chapelle asked, noting the district already faces challenges meeting its RCMP payments. 

Although the centre was not budgeted for within the municipal budget, the Squamish detachment has a surplus of $350,000, RCMP Insp. Neil Cross told council. 

“We will be able to mitigate it within the policing budget,” he said.

Coun. Patricia Heintzman said she wants to see crime statistics following the centre’s opening. 

“It would be interesting to see if it creates a result in prevention,” she said. 

Sea to Sky Corridor communities and the Lower Mainland will be included in the centre’s first phase of rollout. The second step is to incorporate Vancouver Island police, Haugi said, noting the rest of the province will follow. The centre’s eventual budget is anticipated to sit at $5.8 million.

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