Nanaimo council sticks with original jail guard decision
NANAIMO — Despite nearly three hours of widespread community concerns and impassioned debate, Nanaimo city council is standing firm on its decision to end gender-specific jail guarding at the local RCMP detachment.
A 4-4 vote on Monday night shot down an amended motion from Coun. Gord Fuller to ensure that a female jail guard would be on call when a male colleague was staffed at the Nanaimo RCMP Detachment. A 12-year-old policy of a male and female guard on duty at the detachment’s holding cells at all times was struck down at an Oct. 25 meeting to save the city a potential $360,000 a year at the expense of four permanent positions.
13 speakers all voiced their displeasure before council on Monday evening, some calling on officials to restore its previous policy, but a motion to reverse the unpopular decision was not tabled by council.
“The on-call is not immediate enough,” said Coun. Diane Brennan, who expressed concerns about Fuller’s compromise.