Pubdate: Tue, 20 Dec 2016
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Authors: Lindsay Kines and Cindy E. Harnett
Page: A3

MORE RCMP STAFF SOUGHT IN DRUG FIGHT

The Canadian government needs to fill more than 200 federal RCMP
vacancies in B.C. to help the province deal with its drug overdose
crisis, B.C.'s director of police services said Monday.

Clayton Pecknold, who co-chairs the province's task force on overdose
response, credited the federal government with introducing legislation
to ease the way for safe consumption sites and prevent the smuggling
of opioids into Canada.

"But there's more they can do," he said. "We are still down in the
number of RCMP officers that we have doing federal drug enforcement in
this province. We'd like to see the federal government act quickly on
filling those positions."

Pecknold said the RCMP is supposed to have more than 900 federal
officers and civilians handling drug investigations, counter-terrorism
and other federal duties in province. As of October, there were only
about 700, he said.

The province, meanwhile, has devoted "a considerable amount of money"
to its anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and the
Organized Crime Agency of B.C., Pecknold said. "So we're doing our
part."

He made the comments as the B.C. Coroners Service released statistics
showing that 128 people died from illicit drug overdoses in November,
the worst tally for a single month in recent memory. So far this year,
755 people have died across the province, most of them from overdoses
linked to fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that officials say has
been entering Canada by mail from China.

The RCMP was unavailable for comment, but Scott Bardsley, a
spokesperson for federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, blamed
the problem on the former Conservative government for cutting half a
billion dollars from the RCMP's budget over the past four years.

"One of the consequences was a steady erosion of funding for the
federal policing program, which is not able to fill all its positions
in "E" Division [British Columbia]," he said.

The federal government is conducting an Integrity Review to assess
whether the RCMP has the resources it needs to deliver on its mandate
and, in the meantime, a temporary fund was created to ensure the force
can provide "critical services" to Canadians, Bardsley said.

He also said the federal Liberal government is committed to
strengthening its response to the crisis. Health Minister Jane
Philpott and Goodale last week announced proposed legislation to
restore harm reduction as a key part of its drug strategy, prohibit
the unregistered import of pill presses, and allow Canada border
officers to inspect suspicious mail weighing less than 30 grams.

Pecknold said he recognizes the overdose problem will not be solved by
law enforcement efforts at the border.

"But clearly, when you're bringing in this level of toxic substance
that has been described as a poison, we've got to try to stem it at
the border," he said.

He said drug smuggling investigations are complex and require
specialized officers with a high degree of ability.

"I would like to see the federal government expedite whatever's
necessary to get us those positions in British Columbia," Pecknold
said. "Now whether that's a budgetary challenge or a redistribution of
federal resources, I leave to them. But fill our holes."
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MAP posted-by: Matt