Date: November 9, 2020
In addition to their core policing and public safety mandates, the Saanich Police Department (SPD) is responsible for the administration of parking complaints and parking enforcement for the Municipality of Saanich.
For the past 28 years, SPD’s parking enforcement has been provided by contracted service providers, one of whom held the position for over 26 years. In January 2020, our most recent Parking Enforcement Officer retired. The position has remained vacant since that time due to ongoing staffing challenges. This ongoing vacancy has created a corresponding service delivery gap for our community, and an opportunity to revisit the parking complaints and enforcement model for the Municipality.
The District of Saanich has identified the improvement of parking enforcement service delivery as one of their 2019-2023 Strategic Plan initiatives. The District and SPD are working collaboratively on developing a new service delivery framework that may see parking enforcement responsibilities shift to the Districts’ Bylaw Enforcement Section in 2021. Until that time, parking complaints and enforcement activities will continue to be managed by the SPD with existing police resources.
Parking complaints can be made by contacting the Saanich Police Department on the non-emergency line (250-475-4321) and pressing 1 to “report an incident to the police”. Callers will be redirected to E-Comm to obtain the details of the complaint and initiate a call for police service. Please know that all calls for police service are triaged based on their risk to public safety and the assessed need for immediate police response. In this framework, the SPD’s response to parking complaints may be delayed, and our ability to conduct proactive traffic enforcement with existing resources is also limited.
Thank you for your patience while we work collaboratively to develop a more effective, efficient, and responsive parking enforcement framework for the Municipality of Saanich.