RCMP in Castlegar continue to operate at reduced numbers, but help is on the way, city council heard this week.
Sgt. Monty Taylor told council that the detachment currently has a dozen members on staff, but a 13th officer, a constable currently serving in Mission, is expected to arrive in mid-to-late March.
The detachment is supposed to have 16 officers, but has not had a full complement in many months, due to a combination of sick leave and the temporary closure last year of the RCMP’s training academy in Regina as a result of COVID.
However, Taylor told council that COVID has not directly impacted their numbers.
“Knock on wood, since the beginning of COVID times we’ve been pretty good,” he said. “We’ve been able to maintain 24 hour policing coverage in Castlegar whereas some detachments unfortunately have had to scale back to on-call.”
Taylor says they do have a plan in place if COVID does become a problem.
The detachment is still open during regular business hours Monday to Friday.