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Read All Latest News**UPDATED APRIL 10, 2025** CITY OF LANGFORD STATEMENT: LANGFORD REMAINS A SAFE COMMUNITY, SUPPORTIVE OF THE WEST SHORE RCMP
(Langford, B.C.) – Given recent misconceptions about RCMP funding and public safety, the City aims to clarify the following information using publicly available sources. Langford is a safe community, the City is committed to ensuring public safety, and the City supports the West Shore RCMP.
In 2024, Langford saw a 5.9% decrease in the number of calls for service to the RCMP compared to 2023. In addition, the entire West Shore saw an overall decrease in calls for service of 4.1%. Despite this reduction in calls, Langford’s 2025 “Pop to Cop” (population to officer) ratio is the lowest it has been in the last five years.
In 2024, Langford’s percentage of the total West Shore RCMP sworn officer positions was 59.83% while the number of calls for service in Langford was only 56.51% of all calls. This underscores Langford’s commitment to funding the RCMP to meet the community’s needs.
The City of Langford values it’s strong and successful working relationship with the RCMP, West Shore communities and the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations and is dedicated to maintaining strong support and funding for police services, ensuring safety and prosperity for our thriving community. The information in the various tables below provide the public more details for review and comparison. The links to each of the publicly available sources are available under “Learn More” section of this release.
Updated Pop to Cop Numbers Using Revised BC Stats Population as of February 2025
As current year population estimates are not provided within BC Stats British Columbia Regional District and Municipal Population Estimates, the population data used in calculating Pop-to-Cop ratio is always from the previous year. (i.e., in the table seen below, 58,320 is Langford’s 2024 population estimate and is used to determine the Pop-to-Cop ratio for 2025).
Langford
The following table shows the City of Langford’s “Pop-to-Cop” numbers using the updated population statistics issued by the Province in February 2025.
| Year | Langford Population | Pop-to-Cop Ratio | Authorized Strength | RCMP Requested Pop-to-Cop Ratio |
| 2025 | 58,320 | 788:1 | 74.05 | 725:1 |
| 2024 | 55,525 | 793:1 | 70.05 | 725:1 |
| 2023 | 53,120 | 817:1 | 65.05 | 725:1 |
| 2022 | 49,199 | 806:1 | 61.05 | 750:1 |
| 2021 | 46,333 | 798:1 | 58.05 | 750:1 |
Colwood
The following table shows the City of Colwood’s “Pop-to-Cop” numbers with the updated population statistics issued by the Province in February 2025.
| Year | Colwood Population | Pop-to-Cop Ratio | Authorized Strength | RCMP Requested Pop-to-Cop Ratio |
| 2025 | 22,151 | 939:1 | 23.60 | 850:1 |
| 2024 | 21,572 | 955:1 | 22.60 | 850:1 |
| 2023 | 20,896 | 967:1 | 21.60 | 850:1 |
| 2022 | 19,798 | 961:1 | 20.60 | 875:1 |
| 2021 | 19,330 | 986:1 | 19.60 | 875:1 |
View Royal
The following table shows the Town of View Royal’s “Pop-to-Cop” numbers with the updated population statistics issued by the Province in February 2025.
| Year | View Royal Population | Pop-to-Cop Ratio | Authorized Strength | RCMP Requested Pop-to-Cop Ratio |
| 2025 | 12,619 | 879:1 | 14.35 | 875:1 |
| 2024 | 12,516 | 872:1 | 14.35 | 875:1 |
| 2023 | 12,458 | 933:1 | 13.35 | 875:1 |
| 2022 | 12,062 | 977:1 | 12.35 | 875:1 |
| 2021 | 11,885 | 1,047:1 | 11.35 | 875:1 |
Increase in Officers to the Change in Revised Population:
The following table shows the increase in officers funded by the City of Langford over the past five years in comparison to population growth.
| Year | Langford Revised Population | Change in Population | Approved Officers | Population % Change | Officers % Change |
| 2025 | 58,320 | +2,795 | 74.05 | 5.03% | 5.71% |
| 2024 | 55,525 | +2,405 | 70.05 | 4.53% | 7.69% |
| 2023 | 53,120 | +3,921 | 65.05 | 7.97% | 6.56% |
| 2022 | 49,199 | +2,866 | 61.05 | 6.19% | 5.17% |
| 2021 | 46,333 | +2831 | 58.05 | 6.51% | 9.43% |
Crime Rates
The municipalities of Langford, Colwood and View Royal have notably lower crime rates compared to the provincial average. Despite the reduction in crime rates for the reported years, the City continues to increase the number of officers. The addition of four RCMP officers in 2025 will result in the lowest “Pop to Cop” ratio in the last five years.
| Year | Langford | Colwood | View Royal | Province of BC Average |
| 2023 | 60 | 64 | 48 | 85 |
| 2022 | 63 | 67 | 50 | 87 |
| 2021 | 65 | 70 | 52 | 90 |
City RCMP Budget Year-over-Year
The following tables demonstrates that the City of Langford has made consistent improvements in its policing resources, with an increasing number of officers and having the best population-to-officer ratio in the last five years. The City’s Police Budget detailed below includes the addition of new officers and contractual increases resulting from the policing contract.
| Year | Police Budget | Change to Police Budget Year Over Year | Police Budget % Change Year Over Year |
| *2025 | $14,589,120 | $1,962,692 | +15.54% |
| 2024 | $12,626,428 | $1,301,428 | +11.49% |
| 2023 | $11,325,000 | $1,086,008 | +10.61% |
| 2022 | $10,238,992 | $639,492 | +6.66% |
| 2021 | $9,599,500 | $1,452,900 | +17.83% |
*Does not include E-Comm expenses
The RCMP budget detailed above is a single line item within the Financial Plans Police Services budget that specifically relates to the addition of new officers and the increases associated with officer operating costs.
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Learn More:
For further information visit the following links:
Population Estimates – Province of British Columbia
West Shore RCMP 2024 Annual Report
MEDIA CONTACT
Harriet D’Costa
Communications Advisor
Cell: 250-661-9346
Email: