{
  "id": "police-officers-vs-authorized",
  "category": "Safety",
  "title": "Police officers compared with authorized strength, 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)",
    "Police services (municipal)"
  ],
  "plain_question": "How many police officers were working, compared with the number of positions the budget allows?",
  "value": 253.0,
  "display_value": "253",
  "unit": "officers (of 260 authorized)",
  "period": "2025 (yearly snapshot)",
  "period_start": "2025-01-01",
  "period_end": "2025-12-31",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "2023",
    "previous_value": 251.0,
    "change_percent": 0.8
  },
  "since_text": "Gap of 7 positions in 2025 (was 4 in 2023). 207.1 officers per 100,000 residents",
  "trend": "context",
  "trend_basis": "253 officers against 260 authorized positions in 2025, a gap of 7. In 2023: 251 of 255 (gap 4). Officers per 100,000 residents: 207.1 in 2025, 245.6 in 2011. Population served: 122,158.",
  "direction_good": "down",
  "right_direction": "This page is for context, so it has no “better” or “worse” label. It takes no position on how many officers there should be.",
  "caveats": [
    "Officers and authorized strength are a yearly snapshot reported by the police service to Statistics Canada. Officers on leave may still be counted.",
    "Authorized strength is set through the police budget, approved by the police board and the two municipal councils (with a provincial process for disputes).",
    "The service polices both the City of Victoria and the Township of Esquimalt.",
    "Statistics Canada has not published values for 2020, 2024, so those years are missing from the chart.",
    "The chart starts in 2003, when the service began policing Esquimalt (population served 77,382 in 2002, 94,312 in 2003, Statistics Canada table 35-10-0077-01). Earlier years covered a smaller area and are not shown."
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "Police officers and authorized positions",
      "fmt": "int",
      "unit": "officers",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "Authorized positions",
          "area": "vicpd",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2003",
              "value": 184.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2004",
              "value": 211.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2005",
              "value": 214.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2006",
              "value": 215.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2007",
              "value": 221.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2008",
              "value": 222.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2009",
              "value": 241.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2010",
              "value": 241.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2011",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2012",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2013",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2014",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2015",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2016",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2017",
              "value": 245.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 245.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 249.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 249.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 249.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 255.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 260.0
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Officers working",
          "area": "vicpd",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2003",
              "value": 189.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2004",
              "value": 211.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2005",
              "value": 220.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2006",
              "value": 215.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2007",
              "value": 224.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2008",
              "value": 225.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2009",
              "value": 242.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2010",
              "value": 241.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2011",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2012",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2013",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2014",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2015",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2016",
              "value": 243.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2017",
              "value": 244.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 239.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 238.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 227.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 234.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 251.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 253.0
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2003",
      "value": 189.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2004",
      "value": 211.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2005",
      "value": 220.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2006",
      "value": 215.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2007",
      "value": 224.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2008",
      "value": 225.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2009",
      "value": 242.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2010",
      "value": 241.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2011",
      "value": 243.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2012",
      "value": 243.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2013",
      "value": 243.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2014",
      "value": 243.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2015",
      "value": 243.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2016",
      "value": 243.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2017",
      "value": 244.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2018",
      "value": 239.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2019",
      "value": 238.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2021",
      "value": 227.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2022",
      "value": 234.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2023",
      "value": 251.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2025",
      "value": 253.0
    }
  ],
  "refresh_frequency": "Annually",
  "data_published": "2026-08-05",
  "source": {
    "name": "Statistics Canada, Police Administration Survey (municipal police services)",
    "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510007701",
    "dataset_url": "https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/b07aa12f-4008-4a99-ad13-d981fa939ab5",
    "table_url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510007701",
    "table": "35-10-0077-01",
    "publisher_page": "https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/survey/business/3301",
    "locator": "Statistics Canada table 35-10-0077-01: Victoria police service, police officers and authorized strength, 2025"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Open Government Licence - Canada",
    "url": "https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada"
  },
  "attribution": "Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 35-10-0077-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-12T01:29:23Z",
  "licence_type": "open",
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "Staffing levels are shown for context; this site takes no position on how many officers there should be.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": {
      "period": "2023",
      "value": 251.0,
      "text": "vs 2023: +0.8%"
    },
    "five_year": {
      "period": "2021",
      "years": 4,
      "value": 227.0,
      "comparable": true,
      "text": "vs 2021: +11.5%"
    }
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "context",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "key": "steady",
    "label": "Steady this year. Rising over 4 years.",
    "arrow": "▲",
    "rel": 0.8,
    "delta": null,
    "vs": "2023",
    "cur": "2025 (yearly snapshot)",
    "why": "This site takes no position on how many officers there should be. The change is 0.8% of the earlier value, below the 5% threshold. Over 4 years (since 2021) the change is 11.5% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold, so the label also says Rising over 4 years.",
    "change": "0.8%",
    "one_year": "+0.8%",
    "five": {
      "period": "2021",
      "comparable": true,
      "rel": 11.45374449339207,
      "years": 4,
      "longest": true,
      "text": "+11.5%"
    },
    "label_one_year": "Steady",
    "long_key": "rising",
    "long_label": "Rising over 4 years"
  },
  "source_tier": 1,
  "measure_kind": "input",
  "better_measure": {
    "what": "Response-time percentiles against the department's targets, as a file",
    "who_could_publish": "Victoria Police Department",
    "status": "Not published as data. Not asked for yet."
  },
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 1,
    "rung_name": "Adopted target",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "authorized",
        "label": "Authorized strength, set through the police budget",
        "text": "Authorized strength: the number of officer positions set through the police budget approved by the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board, drawn as its own line (260 in 2025). Officers working are counted against it. It is a ceiling set in a budget, not a target for a result, so this page reads it as positions filled and unfilled. The police service reports both figures to Statistics Canada.",
        "area": "Victoria and Esquimalt",
        "source": {
          "title": "Police personnel and selected crime statistics, municipal police services (table 35-10-0077-01)",
          "publisher": "Statistics Canada",
          "date": "2026",
          "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510007701",
          "terms": "https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/terms-conditions/open-licence",
          "refresh": "Yearly",
          "licence": "Statistics Canada Open Licence",
          "checked": "2026-11-12",
          "key": "statcan_pas"
        },
        "documents_checked": null
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "benchmarks": [
    {
      "rung": 1,
      "kind": "target",
      "label": "Authorized strength: officer positions set through the police budget (260 in 2025)",
      "short": "Authorized: 260",
      "unit": "officers",
      "value": 260,
      "by_date": null,
      "baseline_value": null,
      "baseline_date": null,
      "set_by": "POL",
      "instrument": "budget_direction",
      "document": "statcan_pas",
      "page": null,
      "area": null,
      "fit": "full",
      "same_area": true,
      "polarity": "floor",
      "path": false,
      "standing": true,
      "drawn": false,
      "document_url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510007701",
      "applies_here": true,
      "same_measure": true
    }
  ],
  "highest_rung": 1,
  "target_status": {
    "method": "standing_reference",
    "label": "Below authorized strength",
    "key": "nolabel",
    "value": 253.0,
    "target": 260,
    "calculated_here": false,
    "neutral": true,
    "text": "253 officers working against 260 authorized positions. This page takes no position on how many officers there should be."
  },
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "POL",
      "name": "Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board",
      "decides": "Oversees the Victoria Police Department, appoints its chief constable and prepares its budget.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "pa26",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 26",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section26"
        },
        {
          "key": "pa27",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 27",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": {
        "text": "Provisional budget due to the councils by November 30, 2026 (Police Act, s. 27)",
        "label": "Police Act, s. 27",
        "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
      }
    },
    {
      "body": "COV",
      "name": "Victoria and Esquimalt councils",
      "decides": "Approve the police board’s budget. If they reject an item, either side can ask the Province to decide.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "pa27",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 27",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
        },
        {
          "key": "pa27d",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 27 (3)",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "Province of B.C.",
      "decides": "Sets standards for policing.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "pa40",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 40",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section40"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board",
  "label_1y": {
    "key": "steady",
    "label": "Steady"
  },
  "label_long": {
    "key": "rising",
    "label": "Rising",
    "years": 4,
    "change": "+11.5%"
  },
  "target_line": {
    "form": 1,
    "text": "Authorized strength 260 · 7 positions unfilled",
    "target": 260.0,
    "gap": "7 positions unfilled",
    "comparison": null,
    "applies_here": false,
    "note": null
  }
}