Gang unit, major crimes bear brunt of B.C. Mounties’ budget shortfall

VANCOUVER – RCMP in British Columbia will make staff cuts in a specialized gang unit and to their major crimes division to make up for a $4.2 million budget shortfall next year.

Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens, the commanding officer of the force in the province, says Mounties have already reduced the size of their fleet, slashed travel costs and taken other measures to trim spending.

Callens says there are no further savings to be found and the only way to deal with the reduced budget is with staff cuts.

Cutting one of six 12-member Metro Vancouver teams at the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, which focuses on organized crime, will save $2.8 million.

There will also be 13 full-time investigators cut from the Provincial Major Crime program, saving $1.4 million.

The shortfall is a result of a reduction of about one per cent in the $325 million in provincial funding for the RCMP.