SYDNEY, N.S. — Cape Breton Regional Police Service Chief Robert Walsh has acknowledged staffing issues with his force but has disputed the severity of the issue implied by the union for the local officers.
In a statement, Walsh said he is also concerned with staffing levels that are impacted by 25 vacancies and other daily absences related to leave, sick time, vacation and officers attending court.
“There are some shifts where numbers drop below what we prefer to operate with,” he noted in the statement. “But when this happens, we supplement with our other uniformed support units like traffic and K-9 and call-out officers on overtime, because we would never do anything to compromise public and police officer safety.”
Last week, Sandra Mullen, president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union issued a press release stating the CBRPS force is facing a critical shortage of staff that’s putting officer and public safety at risk.
“The average police shift is working anywhere between 30 to 40 percent short-handed, putting increased strain on an already strained work force,” Mullen said in the release.
However, the number of recruits does not meet the demand and officers are concerned that public safety could be put at risk.
“Our members are working an incredible amount of overtime just to keep officers on the street.”
According to Mullen, with vacations around the corner and officer burnout on the rise, members are telling the union they are worried about how these shortages will impact their safety and the safety of the public.
“I realize our officers are feeling these staffing pressures, and we continue to make adjustments to our service delivery to reduce some of the demands on our resources, while we focus on recruitment,” Walsh stated.
