SURREY — Those looking to rent cops in Surrey just got some sweet news as now you can get two Mounties for the price of one.
While 50 per cent discounts are usually reserved for Boxing Day sales, Surrey is launching a new program intended to cut policing bills for free public events in half, reported the Surrey Now newspaper.
Right now, police officers come at a cost of $105 per hour, which includes meals and overtime, Surreyc councillor Bruce Hayne said. If police vehicles are required, that goes up by $25.
“It’s become more and more expensive to police events and event organizers have been saying to us for a while now, ‘Can’t you help offset the costs?’” he said.
The city has set aside $50,000 this year from the council initiatives fund for the new program, Hayne explained. The idea is event organizers would pay for policing, and then apply to be reimbursed for up to 50 per cent of the total bill to a maximum of $35,000 per event.
During last year’s civic election, organizers of the annual Vaisakhi Parade in Surrey asked why they must bear the brunt of policing costs.
The City of Vancouver, for example, has a program to offset costs for some large-scale parades. Vancouver offers up to $50,000 for parades attended by more than 400,000 and up to $30,000 for those with between 100,000 and 400,000.
Surrey’s Vaisakhi parade, held in April, is estimated to attract between 200,000 and 250,000 people.
“Vaisakhi of course would be the biggest third party event (in Surrey),” Hayne said. “All the city events, Canada Day, Fusion Fest, those are city events so they’re already covered. This (fund) is for community festivals and events where additional policing is required.”
According to Baljinder Singh Khera, spokesman for the Dasmesh Darbar gurdwara, which organizes the Vaisakhi parade, the temple alone spends about $225,000 on the parade – a third of which (roughly $75,000) goes toward RCMP presence for the day.
The temple also pays roughly $35,000 for private security because Khera says they’re told RCMP “don’t have enough manpower.”
Khera welcomed the notion of the city covering some of the costs, saying organizers can’t afford any more increases.
“We’re already paying too much,” he said. “It’s very hard to cover. It’s hard to raise that much money.”
Meanwhile, Hayne is concerned policing costs for local events may rise following a national RCMP directive that says community safety officers and auxiliary constables should be provided with armed supervisors when working in police uniform.
