Esquimalt council members and Victoria Police Department (VicPD) representatives discussed public safety priorities and the police budget for next year, days after the police department announced that paramedics will now need police protection when providing aid to people living in the 900-block of Pandora Avenue.
On Thursday, July 11, police say a paramedic was kicked in the face while providing aid to someone on Pandora Avenue, prompting the decision to require police escorts when paramedics are on Pandora.
The Township of Esquimalt currently has a cost-sharing agreement with the City of Victoria for VicPD to take jurisdiction of Esquimalt, after dissolving the Esquimalt Police Department 20 years ago.
At the monthly committee of the whole meeting on July 15, Esquimalt mayor Barbara Desjardins said she was "frightened" by the idea of calls to Pandora taking priority over Esquimalt, and she wanted to know how much and how often Esquimalt police resources are used in Victoria.
Victoria police chief Const. Del Manak explained that the Esquimalt division has a separate supervisor, and calls are divided between the individual divisions.
"Do we get it right every single time, no we don't because you have few officers working in the township and if you get a domestic assault or a major complex investigation, all of your township cars are tied up at that [incident] so if a second call comes in, it's going to take time for us to get there," said Manak.
He said the incident on July 11 was an "in-progress, priority call" that involved violence so Esquimalt-based officers responded, however the framework of the policing agreement has strict guidelines on when Esquimalt officers would respond to Victoria incidents.
He said that there is about five calls per day where police would have to respond to with paramedics on the block, and since the new rule, a 38-year-old woman died from an overdose in the block.
"In medical emergencies, minutes and seconds matter," said Manak. "Any type on delay we have, I have to prioritize public safety. And ambulance and fire also have other calls to go to so if they're staging in the block and they're waiting to be escorted into that block for medical intervention, we have an obligation, at least as a chief, I have an obligation and that is a priority."
Desjardins suggested adding parameters to measure how often Esquimalt resources are used in Victoria and Manak agreed.
