Vancouver ranks last among 13 North American cities surveyed in terms of police response times, says a new report going to Vancouver city council next week.
The authors of the study found that for priority one calls such as abductions, serious assaults and home invasions in progress, it takes an average of 11 minutes and 25 seconds for an officer to arrive. The average for the cities surveyed was seven minutes and 21 seconds.
For priority two calls, which include residential break and enters in progress, that time in Vancouver stretches out to 34 minutes and 37 seconds.
The 1,211-page report goes on to say that for thousands of less serious calls like noise complaints and suspicious circumstances, police are simply not able to attend.
It also notes that in Calgary, police respond in roughly half the time it takes in Vancouver. Other cities surveyed in Canada included Ottawa, Richmond, B.C., Toronto-area forces and Edmonton.
The report says while some minor improvements in police response times have been made, Vancouver needs more officers to meet the demands of the public.
When council gets this report next week, it will also get a budget request from the police department for 65 new officers, at a cost of about $7 million over the next two years.
