'Just irresponsible': Victoria police chief upset at possible elimination of late night task force

The Victoria Police Department (VicPD) is speaking out after learning its late-night task force could be on the chopping block as Victoria city council prepares to set its budget.

Victoria police Chief Del Manak says cuts to late-night policing would remove a key service to the city. 

"It really impacts public safety. It's just irresponsible to do that and to impact the police."

Over the last few weeks, Victoria and Esquimalt city councils have both voted to reduce a proposed 9.6 per cent increase in the police budget.

Both municipalities share policing costs, with Victoria covering the majority of the budget. 

While the late-night task force is city-funded and not within the police budget, Manak says loss of the service would reduce proactive policing efforts in the city. 

"It is such a proactive way of ensuring public safety, and it really is a must-have [program] for us," he said, adding it's now up for reconsideration due to confusion between Victoria city staff and councillors.

"It sounds like there may have been some miscommunication between city staff and council members on cutting this line item."

The City of Victoria pays for the program, which was initiated through a city proposal for the Late Night Great Night program in 2009.

Impacts to public safety 

The late-night task force is based entirely in Victoria's downtown core, with four officers patrolling on foot every Friday and Saturday evening, Manak said. 

The city's cost for the initiative is around $220,000. 

In an interview with CBC's On The Island, Manak says the opportunity to increase police visibility while having officers on hand to mitigate any issues is a worthwhile cost to the city. 

"[Officers] have prevented assaults, stabbings, sexual assaults, many disturbances. Impaired drivers are literally stopped before they're getting in their cars," he said. 

Manak worries removal of the program will increase the number of Lower Mainland gang members, who he says travel to Victoria for its vibrant nightlife away from the presence of Vancouver's gang task force. 

"These individuals pose a significant public safety risk, and we want to send a strong message through our licensed premises that they are not welcome here."

Manak says despite considering the program to be an essential service, he is unable to bring it into the police department's budget. 

"This service provides no value to Esquimalt residents. It is only delivered within the boundaries of the City of Victoria," he said, adding the Township of Esquimalt pays for 13 per cent of the VicPD's budget. 

Council confusion

Even if he was able to bring the program under the police budget, Manak says the news of its potential cut came much too late.  

He says he heard the news "through the grapevine," at which point the police budget had already been set for the year. 

"It was cut at the 11th hour … I've got no option because I don't have the funding within my budget," he said of the program that is now under reconsideration.

This time, Manak says he's confident the decision will be different. 

"There's a number of councillors who voted to cut this budget, who now see the importance of it." 

Sheldon Johnson, the City of Victoria's director of communication and engagement, says following COVID-19, the late-night program has become ineffective due to a quieter downtown nightlife.

"What the City hears from the downtown business community consistently are concerns about daytime street disorder," he said.

Johnson adds VicPD was told months in advance of the likely end of the program and could have included it in its core budget. 

"It's disappointing they were unable or unwilling to account for this small item in their nearly $70 million budget."