Image: City of Chilliwack / Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove is expressing profound disappointment with the province's decision to alter the South Coast Highway Patrol model whereby Hope RCMP and Chilliwack RCMP members would be required to respond to incidents on the Coquihalla Highway and Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3) starting September 1, 2023. The proposed changes could exacerbate service response times when Chilliwack RCMP personnel are asked to respond to incidents in Chilliwack.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Mayor Popove blasts province

Mayor Popove blasts province over plan to shift Highway Patrol duties to cities like Chilliwack

Jul 13, 2023 | 11:19 AM

CHILLIWACK — Mayor Ken Popove is expressing profound disappointment in the provincial government over its decision to download the South Coast Highway Patrol’s service model onto municipalities like Chilliwack with what he calls “zero consultation.”

The plan, set to take effect on September 1, 2023, would require Hope RCMP and Chilliwack RCMP to begin responding to vehicle accidents and other incidents on the Coquihalla, Highway 1, and Highway 3, the Crowsnest Highway.

In a statement released Thursday morning, Mayor Popove says he and Chilliwack city council members are deeply disappointed in the province’s decision to alter the South Coast Highway Patrol’s service model through zero consultation with municipalities.

“This change is an outright downloading of responsibilities to municipalities, who do not have the capacity to take on what is rightly provincial jurisdiction,” Popove said. “Adding responses to highway calls for service will exacerbate existing challenges and cause additional safety concerns in many communities. Chilliwack is part of a regional detachment, which means police resources from Chilliwack may be required leave the city to assist members in other communities, as far away as Hope and Boston Bar.

B.C. Highway Patrol / B.C. Highway Patrol members are pictured. Chilliwack Councillor Bud Mercer, a 34-year member of the RCMP who is now retired, said in June 2023 that a plan to shift B.C. Highway Patrol duties to the nearest detachment is flawed because it would likely require Chilliwack RCMP members to respond to crashes and accidents on provincial highways like the Coquihalla, at a time when the RCMP is already down 20 per cent in terms of member staffing.

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The RCMP is already short on personnel, as previously stated by Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment Superintendent Davy Lee, as well as former RCMP member and Chilliwack Councillor Bud Mercer. Asking Hope and Chilliwack RCMP members to respond outside of its service area could lead to longer wait times for service within Chilliwack and surrounding communities like Hope, Agassiz and Boston Bar.

“Under this proposed service model, calls for service on the Coquihalla, Highway 1 and the Crows Nest could draw on resources from Chilliwack, which is completely unacceptable,” Popove said. “Further, as resources are limited, this will lead to a reduced level of policing in Chilliwack and the Provincial Highways. We are pushing back and advocating to the Government of BC to reconsider this decision which will negatively impact public safety across the province.”