Major spending hike for Codiac RCMP proposed, adding 17 officers
CBC
A major increase in spending and staffing has been proposed for the Codiac Regional RCMP.
The Codiac Regional Policing Authority, the civilian board overseeing the force, unanimously voted Thursday evening to support a $59 million budget for 2025. That's a 29 per cent budget increase from this year.
It includes adding 17 more police officers and five civilian support staff.
The budget would need to be approved by councils in Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview, the communities policed by Codiac RCMP, later this year.
"We've had significant increase in population in our community," Don Moore, chair of the policing authority board, told Information Morning Moncton on Friday. "That alone — we haven't kept up with the policing needs."
The Moncton metro region had one of Canada's fastest growing populations, Statistics Canada reported earlier this year.
The policing authority is funded by the three municipalities with a formula accounting for population and calls to police. Moncton's share in 2025 would be 70.8 per cent, with Dieppe at 18.5 and Riverview at 10.7.
Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold said city council has yet to review all of the details.
"I fully acknowledge that we have a growing community, but it does seem enormous at first blush," Arnold said of her initial reaction to the budget increase.
Dieppe Mayor Yvon Lapierre and Riverview Mayor Andrew LeBlanc did not provide interviews.
The budget proposal, if approved, would be the largest single-year increase in police staffing.
It would increase th budgeted number of regular officers from 156 this year to 173.
Moore said the board is also recommending more increases in future years. Fifteen officers are proposed to be added in 2026, followed by 14 more in 2027 to bring the force to 202 members.
The numbers followed a police workload review by PwC, formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers, an auditing and consulting firm.
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