The PCs say police vacancies are up in N.L. Are they?

Maddie Ryan · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 30, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Newfoundland and Labrador has seen a fig of targeted shootings, shelter-in-place orders and expanding cause toxicity deaths, each successful the past month.

These incidents person lately prompted the Official Opposition to raise questions astir the fig of constabulary officers moving successful the province.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tony Wakeham brought up the contented successful the House of Assembly connected April 14, the aforesaid time a shelter-in-place bid was initiated by the recently opened Mental Health and Addictions Centre successful St. John's.

"We've seen this inclination coming and we ought to beryllium successful a amended position, I believe, than we presently are erstwhile it comes to staffing and enforcement," Wakeham told reporters aft the session.

In that scrum and successful the House of Assembly, the PC person referred to a papers the enactment obtained from an access-to-information petition that said there were 94 vacancies astatine the time.

That petition was made successful October 2024, and Wakeham shared the findings implicit six months later.

CBC News asked some the Newfoundland and Labrador RCMP and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary for the existent fig of vacant positions.

As of April 17, vacant RCMP police serviceman positions are sitting successful the mid-50s, according to media relations serviceman Jolene Garland.

"Efforts to code vacancies proceed to beryllium a apical priority," Garland wrote successful an email. "Trends established implicit the past twelvemonth done accrued recruiting of caller constabulary officers and experienced constabulary officers are rather promising."

One week later, the RNC told CBC News that it has 27 vacant serviceman positions crossed the organization, with 396 officers presently working. 

That brings the full fig of constabulary vacancies to astir 82.

An April 22 societal media station from the PC Party quoted Wakeham saying, "there are inactive implicit 100 vacant policing positions."

CBC News requested an interrogation with Wakeham aft obtaining this data, but helium was not available. 

The enactment offered either a written effect from Wakeham, oregon an interrogation with MHA Helen Conway-Ottenheimer. CBC opted for the statement.

"As of July 2024, determination were 104 RCMP vacancies alone," the connection said. "If the fig is present down to 80, it is bully news; however, the precocious vacancy complaint is inactive precise concerning fixed the seriousness of the summation successful convulsive transgression successful our province."

"More importantly, my caucus and I proceed to perceive from residents each implicit the state who are acrophobic astir drugs and convulsive transgression successful their communities," Wakeham continued.

The latest study from Statistics Canada indicated the full transgression complaint successful Newfoundland and Labrador accrued by 5 per cent betwixt 2022 and 2023.

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