Auxiliary police officers will be joining the Campbell River RCMP by next year.
City council agreed Tuesday night to spend $6,000 a year to have six auxiliary officers on the beat with Campbell River RCMP officers.
Under an agreement between the Mounties and the B.C. government, the province will cover uniform, kit and liability insurance at roughly $2,500.
But training costs are up to the city at roughly $1,000 per officer.
New recruits will be required to commit to at least two years service and 180 hours per year, after they complete about 400 hours of training.
Councillor Ron Kerr said it will be great to see “boots on the streets, maybe in a year’s time.”
Councillor Ben Lanyon asked staff what was the limit on the number of officers the city could have.
RCMP Municipal Manager Carrie Jacobs said getting to six would be “quite a step” given the amount of training and the 36 online courses officers need to complete.
Auxiliary officers are unarmed and support front line officers in non-enforcement situations.
In Campbell River’s case, they will be top-level Tier 3 officers, allowing them to do the most non-enforcement activities alongside officers, such as searches of people and scene security.
Campbell River did have an auxiliary force before it was withdrawn around 1997 after the province stopped the ability for auxiliary officers to carry guns which made them felt unsafe, Councillor Doug Chapman said.
Mayor Kermit Dahl asked if former auxiliary officers come back, would they have to do all 36 courses. Jacobs said they would have to update their training.
