{
  "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": "2024",
    "previous_value": 632,
    "change_percent": null
  },
  "since_text": "Caseload 41 Criminal Code offences per officer; 10,642 offences; 257 authorized officers",
  "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. Costs are as reported by the municipalities.",
    "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."
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "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/gov/content/justice/criminal-justice/policing-in-bc/publications-statistics-legislation/crime-police-resource-statistics",
    "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"
  },
  "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"
  ],
  "data_published": null,
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11T08:23:34Z",
  "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.",
  "licence_type": "public"
}