White Rock Gives More Money to Cops

Jeff Shantz

It is unfortunate to see that White Rock council has found even more money for police in a year with declining crime rates and as communities across Canada have been calling for a rethinking of police funding and the need to provide more financial supports for community resources in health care, youth programs, and anti-racism work.

Council has now approved $110,000 for the police server room and $25,000 for RCMP interior renovations. This while the city has to cover revenue shortfalls estimated at $1.8 million as outlined in the 2020 financial plan.

The city’s 2019 to 2023 financial plan showed that nine percent of city expenses already go to policing. That is more than recreation and culture, three times more than parks, and more than fire services.

While $135,000 may seem like a relatively small amount, we know how much that amount could do for community groups, for youth groups and programs, for harm reduction. Many of these groups do not even have access to office space, let alone a server room. So, while these groups have to run bake sales or online auctions or start a gofundme page to survive, the city can find hundreds of thousands of dollars more for the RCMP. That is not justice.