Transit Police cost too much: Taxpayers Federation
Posted August 19, 2012 11:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Four years ago legal fees for Transit Police cost $800,000, that number nearly doubled one year later, and then went up to $300,000 last year, partly due to changes in the Police Act.
The act aimed to provide people with more accountability and transparency.
Jordan Bateman with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation argues a balance can be made between safety and costs.
“We’re basically paying [Transit Police] to do a job that transit security is more than capable of doing,” he says.
“The average transit security officer makes about $60,000 a year, compare that to the transit police, who make $100,000 a year.”
He says putting in fair gates will also help members force do their job.
“Two-thirds of what they do are fare-evasion ticket files; that could easily be done by transit security, without guns or badges.”
In the past seven months, the force has spent $149,000 in legal fees.
The Transit Police are in charge of monitoring TransLink throughout the Lower Mainland.
