Skip to content

Pitt Meadows allowed its own RCMP detachment

Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows will each have own police station
27631456_web1_211125-MRN-PK-Detachment.PittMeadows-RIBBON_1
Mayor Bill Dingwall cut a ribbon on Nov. 26 in front of the Pitt Meadows Art Gallery, symbolizing the start of a new RCMP detachment for Pitt Meadows. (News files)

The year 2021 is when the City of Pitt Meadows received approval to have its own RCMP detachment, de-integrating from Maple Ridge and the Ridge Meadows RCMP.

“Now we’re into full transition planning with Maple Ridge and the detachment,” said Mayor Bill Dingwall.

The new Pitt Meadows detachment will not be in operation until as late as 2025, and there is a lot of work to be done.

Dingwall said the city will hire a staff sergeant as a detachment commander early in the new year, to represent the new detachment in meetings, as well as a manager of civilian staff. There will be 23 RCMP officers on site, as well as nine civilian employees.

Also happening in 2022, the Pitt Meadows Art Gallery will be moved, and site preparation done at the new Harris Road home of the police station. Construction will begin in 2023.

Dingwall said with the new police detachment, new fire hall, and an underpass that will eliminate delays currently caused by the CP Rail crossing at Harris Road, Pitt Meadows residents will soon have faster emergency response times.

The standalone detachment has been a priority for the first-term mayor and his council since at least June of 2019, and on Nov. 26 at a press conference in front of the Pitt Meadows Art Gallery at 12492 Harris Rd., the city officials made the announcement of the detachment approval by the province.

Council said it would remedy different policing priorities between the two cities, and stop Pitt Meadows residents from subsidizing police service in Maple Ridge.

READ ALSO: Pitt Meadows’ autonomous RCMP detachment gets provincial nod

An autonomous RCMP detachment will result in a significantly higher number of local RCMP directly serving our community and prioritizing our needs,” said Dingwall. “Enhancing public safety is the single most important legacy that this council has been striving to achieve for our community. This favourable decision by the province of B.C. means our residents will have enhanced police visibility, improved public safety, a faster police response and the ability to achieve a policing model tailored for Pitt Meadows.”

There has been opposition to the detachment by some citizens, including Darlene Mercer who launched a petition in the fall of 2021 that collected more than 500 signatures. They are opposed to the cost of building the detachment, the loss of the art gallery site, and say there will be little benefit.

READ ALSO: Petition launched to stop the proposed Pitt Meadows RCMP detachment

Council learned that the cost of the new police office could be more than $18 million.

The city used an alternative approval process to rezone the park land north of Pitt Meadows Heritage Hall for the police station. The proposal would have failed if 10 per cent of the city’s 14,311 eligible voters were against it. So anything less than 1,431 no votes would be taken as an approval. The city received just 202 valid opposing votes, or 1.4 per cent.

READ ALSO: Pitt Meadows could pay over $18 million for RCMP office

.


Have a story tip? Email: editor@mapleridgenews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.


Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
Read more