Victoria indicators

← All measures

Police cost per resident

Public, not open-licensedArea: Victoria + Esquimalt (police area) Calendar year 2024 · Where this covers

$632 per resident a year

For context

Caseload 41 Criminal Code offences per officer; 10,642 offences; 257 authorized officers

Source: B.C. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, 2024 · Full source

What it measures

Total policing costs for the Victoria police service divided by the population it serves, with the number of Criminal Code offences per officer.

Why it matters

Policing is the largest single part of the City budget. This puts it on a per-person scale. It is not a measure of value for money.

Over time

Reading this page

Shown for context, without a “better” or “worse” label. Costs and caseloads depend on many factors, including the role of a regional centre. 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). The rules.

Source

Period
Calendar year 2024
Licence
Public data, not under an open licence. Used with attribution. Agency’s terms of use
Updated by agency
Annually (report published about a year after the year ends); latest release not stated
Retrieved
Nov 11, 2026, 1:23 AM B.C. time

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.

Text checked in the agency’s document

The script reads the agency’s own document each time and refuses to show a number unless this text is found.

  • Victoria Mun21 122,157 257 257 475 10,642 87 41 $77,147,339 $632
Show the numbers as a table
Police cost per resident, Victoria + Esquimalt (police area) (newest first)
PeriodValue
2024$632

Keep in mind

  • 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.

Where this covers

Area: Victoria + Esquimalt (police area)

The area served by the Victoria Police Department: the City of Victoria and the Township of Esquimalt together.

Included

  • City of Victoria
  • Township of Esquimalt (policed by the Victoria Police Department under a framework agreement)

Not included

  • Saanich, Oak Bay, Central Saanich and the West Shore, which have their own police services or RCMP detachments
  • Statistics Canada does not publish a City-only crime index

Official definition

How the agency describes it: Victoria municipal police service area (City of Victoria and Township of Esquimalt).

Connected to: Police board and municipal councils (budget), Province (policing standards). This is a label, not a judgement.

Related measures