{
  "id": "police-cost-per-resident",
  "parent": "police-officers-vs-authorized",
  "category": "Safety",
  "title": "Police cost per resident and caseload, Victoria police service",
  "geography": "Victoria municipal police service area (City of Victoria and Township of Esquimalt)",
  "scope": "city",
  "levels": [
    "Police board and municipal councils (budget)",
    "Province (policing standards)"
  ],
  "plain_question": "What did policing cost per resident, and how many Criminal Code cases did each officer carry on average?",
  "value": 632,
  "display_value": "$632",
  "unit": "per resident a year",
  "period": "Calendar year 2024",
  "period_start": "2024-01-01",
  "period_end": "2024-12-31",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "2023",
    "previous_value": 598,
    "change_percent": null
  },
  "since_text": "Caseload 41 Criminal Code offences per officer; 10,642 offences; 257 authorized officers. 2023: $598 per resident",
  "trend": "context",
  "trend_basis": "In 2024, total policing costs of $77,147,339 for a population of 122,157 ($632 per resident). 10,642 Criminal Code offences, 41 per officer, with 257 authorized officers (475 residents per officer).",
  "direction_good": "down",
  "right_direction": "Shown for context, without a “better” or “worse” label. Costs and caseloads depend on many factors, including the role of a regional centre.",
  "caveats": [
    "From the Province's yearly “Police Resources in British Columbia” report; the earlier figure is from the previous year's edition. Costs are as reported by the municipalities and are not adjusted for inflation.",
    "Population and costs cover both Victoria and Esquimalt. The Province's authorized-strength figure can differ slightly from the Statistics Canada figure because the two are counted at different times.",
    "Comparison, not a goal: the same table lists the 11 municipal police departments in B.C. Together they cost $521 per resident in 2024 ($490 in 2023). Costs differ with many factors, including the size of each place and the role of a regional centre. Places policed by the RCMP are in other tables of the report, with costs shared differently, and are not compared here."
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2023",
      "value": 598
    },
    {
      "period": "2024",
      "value": 632
    }
  ],
  "refresh_frequency": "Annually (report published about a year after the year ends)",
  "source": {
    "name": "B.C. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Police Resources in British Columbia, 2024",
    "url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/criminal-justice/police/publications/statistics/police-resources/police-resources-in-bc-2024.pdf",
    "dataset_url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/criminal-justice/policing-in-bc/publications-statistics-legislation/crime-police-resource-statistics",
    "download_url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/criminal-justice/police/publications/statistics/police-resources/police-resources-in-bc-2024.pdf",
    "earlier": {
      "period": "2023",
      "display": "$598",
      "name": "B.C. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Police Resources in British Columbia, 2023",
      "url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/criminal-justice/police/publications/statistics/bc-police-resources-2023.pdf",
      "page_url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/criminal-justice/police/publications/statistics/bc-police-resources-2023.pdf#page=11",
      "page": 11,
      "reads": "Victoria Mun16 120,433 255 255 472 11,612 96 46 $71,995,327 $598",
      "published": "2026-01-09",
      "note": "Prepared December 2024"
    },
    "publisher_page": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/criminal-justice/policing-in-bc/publications-statistics-legislation/crime-police-resource-statistics",
    "page_url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/criminal-justice/police/publications/statistics/police-resources/police-resources-in-bc-2024.pdf#page=11",
    "page": 11,
    "locator": "Police Resources in B.C., 2024, page 11, “Victoria” row, cost per capita column",
    "reads": "Victoria (municipal police): population 122,157; total cost $77,147,339; cost per capita $632"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Public data, not under an open licence. Used with attribution.",
    "url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/home/copyright",
    "open": false
  },
  "verified_text": [
    "Victoria Mun21 122,157 257 257 475 10,642 87 41 $77,147,339 $632",
    "Victoria Mun16 120,433 255 255 472 11,612 96 46 $71,995,327 $598",
    "Total 1,541,438 2,616 2,635 585 85,408 55 32 $803,543,838 $521",
    "Total 1,479,228 2,590 2,608 567 90,486 61 35 $724,327,967 $490"
  ],
  "data_published": "2026-01-13",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-12T20:45:20Z",
  "attribution": "Source: B.C. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Police Resources in British Columbia, 2024. Public document, used with attribution; not endorsed by the publisher.",
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "Police cost per resident, municipal police departments in B.C.",
      "fmt": "money",
      "unit": "per resident a year",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "Victoria and Esquimalt",
          "area": "vicpd",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 598
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 632
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "B.C. municipal police departments (all 11)",
          "area": "bc",
          "cmp": "B.C. municipal police",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 490
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 521
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Saanich",
          "area": "crd",
          "compare": true,
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 350
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 403
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Oak Bay",
          "area": "crd",
          "compare": true,
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 335
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 311
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "breakdown_title": "Municipal police departments in B.C., 2024",
  "breakdown": [
    {
      "label": "Victoria and Esquimalt",
      "value": 632,
      "display_value": "$632 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "Population 122,157; total cost $77,147,339."
    },
    {
      "label": "Vancouver",
      "value": 606,
      "display_value": "$606 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "Population 757,849; total cost $459,626,680."
    },
    {
      "label": "Nelson",
      "value": 451,
      "display_value": "$451 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "Population 12,343; total cost $5,569,187."
    },
    {
      "label": "West Vancouver",
      "value": 440,
      "display_value": "$440 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "Population 52,280; total cost $22,980,516."
    },
    {
      "label": "Abbotsford",
      "value": 411,
      "display_value": "$411 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "Population 175,219; total cost $71,941,468."
    },
    {
      "label": "Saanich",
      "value": 403,
      "display_value": "$403 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "Population 125,444; total cost $50,588,365."
    },
    {
      "label": "Delta",
      "value": 401,
      "display_value": "$401 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "Population 127,830; total cost $51,269,317."
    },
    {
      "label": "Port Moody",
      "value": 398,
      "display_value": "$398 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "Population 38,943; total cost $15,503,831."
    },
    {
      "label": "New Westminster",
      "value": 397,
      "display_value": "$397 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "Population 92,435; total cost $36,723,541."
    },
    {
      "label": "Central Saanich",
      "value": 350,
      "display_value": "$350 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "Population 18,135; total cost $6,350,620."
    },
    {
      "label": "Oak Bay",
      "value": 311,
      "display_value": "$311 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "Population 18,803; total cost $5,842,974."
    },
    {
      "label": "All 11 departments together",
      "value": 521,
      "display_value": "$521 per resident",
      "period": "2024",
      "detail": "The report’s own Total row."
    }
  ],
  "licence_type": "public",
  "data_published_basis": "file dated",
  "source_tier": 1,
  "measure_kind": "input",
  "better_measure": {
    "what": "Response-time percentiles against the department's targets, as a file",
    "who_could_publish": "Victoria Police Department",
    "status": "Not published as data. Not asked for yet."
  },
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "Shown for context, without a better or worse label.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": null,
    "five_year": null
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "context",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "key": "rising",
    "label": "Rising",
    "arrow": "▲",
    "rel": 5.68561872909699,
    "delta": null,
    "vs": "2023",
    "cur": "2024",
    "why": "Whether policing costs should be higher or lower is a policy choice. The change is 5.7% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.",
    "change": "5.7%",
    "one_year": "+5.7%",
    "long_why": "The series starts in 2023, so there is no reading longer than one year yet."
  },
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 4,
    "rung_name": "Context measure: no target expected",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "context",
        "label": "Context measure: no target expected",
        "area": null,
        "source": null,
        "documents_checked": null,
        "text": "Context measure: no target expected. A cost that follows the police budget set each year. A budget is a decision, not a target, and the Province’s Public Safety service plan sets none for it."
      },
      {
        "kind": "compare",
        "label": "Comparison, not a goal",
        "area": null,
        "source": null,
        "documents_checked": null,
        "text": "The B.C. municipal police departments (all 11), Saanich and Oak Bay lines are shown for comparison. They are not a goal."
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "no_target_expected": "A cost that follows the police budget set each year. A budget is a decision, not a target, and the Province’s Public Safety service plan sets none for it.",
  "benchmarks": [
    {
      "rung": 4,
      "kind": "comparison",
      "label": "The B.C. municipal police departments (all 11), Saanich and Oak Bay lines are shown for comparison. They are not a goal.",
      "fit": "full",
      "drawn": true,
      "area": null,
      "applies_here": false,
      "same_measure": true
    }
  ],
  "highest_rung": 4,
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "POL",
      "name": "Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board",
      "decides": "Oversees the Victoria Police Department, appoints its chief constable and prepares its budget.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "pa26",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 26",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section26"
        },
        {
          "key": "pa27",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 27",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": {
        "text": "Provisional budget due to the councils by November 30, 2026 (Police Act, s. 27)",
        "label": "Police Act, s. 27",
        "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
      }
    },
    {
      "body": "COV",
      "name": "Victoria and Esquimalt councils",
      "decides": "Approve the police board’s budget. If they reject an item, either side can ask the Province to decide.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "pa27",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 27",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
        },
        {
          "key": "pa27d",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 27 (3)",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "Province of B.C.",
      "decides": "Sets standards for policing.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "pa40",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 40",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section40"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board",
  "label_1y": {
    "key": "rising",
    "label": "Rising"
  },
  "label_long": null,
  "target_line": {
    "form": 7,
    "text": "No target expected · B.C. municipal police $521",
    "target": null,
    "gap": null,
    "comparison": "B.C. municipal police $521",
    "applies_here": false,
    "note": "A cost that follows the police budget set each year. A budget is a decision, not a target, and the Province’s Public Safety service plan sets none for it."
  }
}