At the RCMP detachment in Langley, officers continue to do their jobs, despite being caught up in a policing- related ‘divorce’ between Langley Township and the city of Langley.
For several years, the Township has said it’s paying more than its fair share of policing costs, while the city gets the bulk of resources.
Now they’re pushing forward with an RCMP breakup.
“It has come to a point where the Township of Langley needs to move on and have its own detachment,” Langley Township Mayor Eric Woodward told Global News.
“We have, in fact, been the priority provider of policing in the greater Langley area. And that we don’t have an equal partner in the City of Langley and their current administration to fund policing and provide service levels that we want to provide.”
The shared policing agreement is ending following a two-year notice period, and the city will eventually exit the detachment located in the Township and get its own building.
“After there’s actually an arbitration process to go through on what our payout is, after all is said and done, the (RCMP detachment) building would be 100 per cent Township owned,” Langley City Mayor Nathan Pachal said.
Public Safety Minister Garry Begg said the issue was a matter between the two municipalities.
“This is a contractual arrangement that the City and the Township both have with the same group,” he said.
“They have their contract with the RCMP. We’re not part of that arrangement between the two of them.”
The Mounties released a statement, saying “the RCMP is a service provider of policing services to both the Township of Langley and the City of Langley.”
“Public safety is our number-one priority, and we can confirm that there will be no interruption of service delivery to residents of either municipality.”
As for costs and how taxpayers will be impacted, the City of Langley told Global News, “We understand there’s public interest in the financial aspects of this transition.”
“At this stage, the total cost of the termination of the capital and operations cost sharing agreement is still being assessed, because it depends on a number of complex factors—including contractual obligations, operational adjustments, and the timeline for implementation.”