“This is not an optional resource,” Police Chief Del Manak says of the program. “This is a must-have for the police officers to be able to maintain public safety downtown.”
Victoria’s police chief says he’s shocked the City of Victoria intends to cut the budget for a late-night police task force and feels like the rug has been pulled out from under him as the decision has been made at the 11th hour of budgeting.
The late-night program, paid for out of the city’s budget and not the police budget, funded deployment of four police officers every Friday and Saturday night to move around the streets and between bars, nightclubs and other late-night spots.Manak made an impassioned plea for direction from the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board Tuesday night. The board recommended he return to Victoria council to request the funding be reinstated.
“We are regularly ejecting individuals who are here in our city and they’re extremely violent. And it’s not fair to put this responsibility on those working in bars like door staff,” he said. “These are dangerous, violent offenders that are accessing many of our locations and to put that responsibility on staff is irresponsible.”
Included in those recommendations was a cut of $220,000, which city chief financial officer Susanne Thompson verbally introduced as “a recommendation to discontinue the late night program.” The cut was written in the staff report as a budget cut from the business and community relations budget. “I think that was missed by all of us, because it didn’t come as a line item saying, ‘you’re cutting the police function,’ ” he said.
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