Police union ringing alarm bells over staffing in CBRM

The union representing officers in the Cape Breton Regional Police Service says staffing shortages are creating a safety risk for officers and the public, but the police chief denies that's the case.

Sandra Mullen, president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, said police are leaving the force in droves due to working conditions, and recruitment is not keeping pace.

"Our members do not see that their areas of concern are being addressed in a timely fashion," she said. "They're extremely short staffed [and] are expected to fill a number of overtime shifts in order for [there to be] any proper service at all."

An average shift is between 30 per cent and 40 per cent short handed and officers in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality are sometimes working 18-hour shifts, Mullen said.

"It's one simple incident away from what could be a serious issue for their safety and of the residents in CBRM," she said.

"Our members certainly feel that the conditions have reached a breaking point and that we have to raise the alarm bells that the CBRM needs to understand the degree of severity here and address it before it goes much further."

Police Chief Robert Walsh said shifts are not 30 or 40 per cent short staffed and there is no concern for officer or public safety.

However, about 12.5 per cent of the workforce is off due to workers compensation claims, sick leave or retirements, he said.

"We recognize that our members are under considerable stress and we've done what we can to try and support them," Walsh said.

"We are making adjustments within and we will redistribute the staff that we have so that there is always someone on the road and ready to respond."

In 2019, the force had more than 40 officers off work for a variety of reasons.

Walsh said those numbers were brought down over time, but they are creeping up again.

"They seem to be trending up slightly and we believe it's partly due to attrition," he said. 

"We have members now that are at the point in their career where they're about to retire, so we are actively trying to recruit."

Experienced officer recruitment planned

The department has held several recruitment sessions in communities around CBRM that attracted interest from about 60 people, Walsh said. The force is also about to launch a recruitment drive targeting officers who are already trained and working in law enforcement elsewhere.

A marketing company has been hired to do that for about $5,000, Walsh said.

"We're hoping it's going to be a great return on investment," he said. "That's relatively inexpensive compared to some other strategies on recruitment."

Eight officers will likely start this summer, he said, and others have had their participation in training programs put on hold for the summer to make sure enough officers are available during the vacation period.

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