Langley Township council voted unanimously to spend up to $5.5 million over the next two years for a variety of upgrades at the RCMP detachment building, including a new gym and security system upgrades.
The money, which will come from the Township’s RCMP reserve funds, includes $1.5 million in funding this year, and pre-approval of $4 million next year for the fitness centre upgrades and the security system work.
Another $2.7 million is to be spent in 2025 for security fencing and exterior security system upgrades. A further $1.2 million is to be set aside in 2026 for more capital projects at the detachment.
The current gym has been an issue for some time, as it’s small and located in a former storage space. The Langley RCMP detachment has more than 200 officers when fully staffed, but the building is now over 30 years old.
“A gym in a police facility is not a perk of the job,” said Councillor Barb Martens, a former Vancouver Police Department officer. “It’s actually proven heart disease is the number one killer of police officers.”
Martens said that the average age for an officer’s coronary incident is 46. Shift work, adrenaline, and physical activity are hard on the officer’s bodies, she said.
“I was shocked to see what they call a gym,” Coun. Tim Baillie said of his first tour of the detachment, noting it was not as good as what you’d see in a firehall, which has far fewer staff.
Langley Township is currently separating the shared RCMP detachment it shares with Langley City, with the Township to take ownership of the current detachment building in Murrayville.
Since the new spending comes after the Township served the City with notice of the impending division, the Township will bear all the costs for the changes.
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