All Langley RCMP officers have been fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, Supt. Adrian Marsden, the officer in charge, told Langley City council.
“Life in the detachment is slowly starting to resemble pre-pandemic time,” the report to the Monday, July 26 meeting said.
“Most of our membership has now received both doses of their vaccine and no one has had to self-isolate or quarantine for some time.”
A total of 11 members from Langley tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and only two of those officers are believed to have contracted the virus from another officer.
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“This demonstrated the detachment’s commitment to a safe work environment and adherence to the orders of the Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.”
In March, B.C. health officials announced frontline workers, including police, firefighters, child-care, grocery store, postal and K-12 education staff would start getting the vaccine in April.
Marsden said one benefit of increased vaccinations has been the reopening of the RCMP training depot, which has allowed the detachment to add new officers.
Langley currently has three new members who graduated since April, and another five are expected to arrive before the end of the summer.
Marsden said another result of the increased vaccination rates and easing of pandemic restrictions has been a noticeable drop in business breaking and entering cases, with 31 incidents reported in April, May and June of this year compared to 52 during the same period in 2020.
“I put that to businesses returning to work and actually being occupied,” Marsden commented.
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As well, the Langley City Community Police (CPO) office re-opened for clients on July 7, operating during the summer from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday.
All CPOs were shut down in March of last year as part of a province-wide pandemic lockdown.
A reopening date for the Township CPOs in Aldergrove, Walnut Grove and Willowbrook has yet to be announced.
Earlier in the month, during a special council meeting, an increase in the City RCMP budget by $260,000 to $11.6 million was approved, with council authorizing a letter of approval in principle to the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General to maintain the Langley City portion of the detachment strength at 51 officers.
Is there more to the story? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
