Cox's Cove mayor worries RNC's expansion on Newfoundland's west coast will mean a drop in service

The mayor of Cox's Cove says he's concerned the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary's expansion on Newfoundland's west coast will mean an overall decrease in police services in the region.

Perry Sheppard said Monday that RCMP services in his area have been declining over the past 10 to 15 years due to cuts and he worries the same thing will happen when the RNC takes over.

"Unless they're going to increase the funding, then the services are going to be lacking," Sheppard said Monday.

Last week, the provincial governmentannounced 10 new officers will cover an area outside Corner Brookfrom Pasadena in the Humber Valleyinto the Bay of Islands, taking over the jurisdictions from the RCMP.

Right now,Sheppard said, there's one RCMP officer on duty per shiftwho patrols the south and north shores of the Bay of Islands.

"If we see them once a day, twice a day, [that] would be a good day,depending on whathours of the day," he said.

"That wasn't that way all the time. At one time there was a fair presence of the RCMP in these areas. We would see them two or three times per shift. Now there's only one RCMP officer per car and one per shift."

In the announcement, Justice Minister JohnHogan said his department is givingthe RNC$1 million in funding for the expansion, already allocated in this year'sprovincial budget.

But when the transition is complete which could take about a year,according to the chief of police Sheppard said the problem is still going to come back to the finances.

"They may put in some funding and it looks good from the start but then the provincial government looks at it and says, 'We can't afford to keep spending these types of money.' So then they're going to cut back and the services are going to get worse," he said.

Sheppard said he hasn't had any conversations with the province about the expansion, adding the announcement was sprung on him just a day before it happened. He said he also hasn't yet spoken with the RNC or theRCMP.

But he has spoken with residents who told him they're also concerned.

"I think we'll see a flourish of patrol, but how long is it going to last?" he said.

The RNC currently employs about 420 officers through seven detachments and serves 15communities in three jurisdictions.

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