After soliciting proposals for its own police force, Cumberland County is sticking with the RCMP
Mayor says the municipality won't be satisfied by status quo
After a year-long review of police services and a request for proposals, Cumberland County is sticking with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The municipality in northern Nova Scotia says its policing services options review committee received three bids, one from the Amherst Police Department, another from Saint Mary's University professor Stephen Schneider, and a third from the RCMP.
Mayor Murray Scott told CBC News Thursday the bid from Amherst Police would have only expanded the force's jurisdiction to the community of Springhill.
Schneider's proposal was focused on establishing a pilot for a community safety office, meant to exist alongside traditional policing and address some of its limitations.
Scott said this left Cumberland County little choice but to accept the RCMP's proposal, which covered the entire county, excluding Amherst, which has its own police force, and Oxford, which has its own RCMP detachment.
Complaints about lack of police presence, response times
As of 2022, Cumberland County had 27 RCMP officers assigned to the area.
Among the concerns raised by residents in public consultations were complaints about the lack of police presence in communities and slow emergency response times.
One of Scott's biggest frustrations stems from the RCMP's current style of policing, where officers are based in the area, but not necessarily in every town.
"We truly believe as a council that the district style does not work for us," said Scott. "You want to have community-based policing, you need people living engaged in the community."
He said that will be one of the main concerns brought to the province's Department of Justice and the RCMP once they begin talks on how to proceed.
Scott said the municipality won't be satisfied with the status quo, but recognizes that as of now, nothing has changed.
It will be up to the county to negotiate with the Department of Justice and RCMP to find a mutually beneficial solution, he said.
"That's what the citizens asked us for. That's what they expect."
In a statement, Nova Scotia RCMP declined to share any specifics of its proposal, but said it's looking "forward to working with the municipality, community members and the Department of Justice to ensure the policing model in Cumberland best supports residents."
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