More RCMP officers welcome news, say Whitehorse businesses

The Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce is applauding the territorial government's plan to hire more police officers for the territory. The territorial budget, tabled last week, includes $385,000 for the initiative.

"This is a very good move," said chamber president Rick Karp. "We're very pleased this is happening, and it's necessary."

The chamber was calling for more officers last year, as the city saw a spike in petty crime. Karp said some local businesses found that officers were slow to respond to reports of theft and vandalism, because they had other, more serious priorities.

Karp also said businesses were told that officers have a lot of paperwork to deal with, and so fewer officers are out patrolling the streets.

"I think it's important to bring those numbers back again, so we can have good surveillance of the city and good safety for our community," Karp said.

Yukon RCMP's Chief Superintendent Peter Clark welcomes the plan for new officers, but said it won't happen overnight.

"We do have to still recruit, train, hire, transfer those new police officers into the territory," Clark said. He said that could take a year, after the budget is passed. 

"We will try to get those bodies and boots on the ground as soon as we can," he said.