Pubdate: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2005 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Chad Skelton POLICE SPENDING MORE TIME ON PAPERWORK THAN 30 YEARS AGO Court Rulings On Suspects' Rights Increasing Burden, Joint Study Finds The average police officer in B.C. spends more time doing paperwork than investigating crimes and responding to calls combined, according to a new study of policing in the province. The study, by researchers at the University College of the Fraser Valley and Simon Fraser University, found that while officers 30 years ago typically spent about 90 minutes a day on administrative tasks and writing reports, officers today spend more than four hours on those tasks -- taking up about 40 per cent of their workday. The main reason for the increase, the study found, has been a series of court rulings that have strengthened the rights of criminal suspects while increasing the administrative burden on police. Since the Supreme Court of Canada's 1991 Stinchcombe decision, for example, police have been required to hand over virtually all relevant documents to the defence -- including tips, notebooks and reports. If an investigation involves a wiretap, officers must prepare a complete, word-for-word transcript of all recordings, even if most are unrelated to the case. And just one week of wiretaps can take an officer one to two months to transcribe. Last year, the Missing Women Task Force revealed that of the roughly 100 officers assigned to their investigation, about 10 were working full-time on disclosing evidence to accused serial killer Robert Pickton's defence team. Stinchcombe is just one ruling. Other rulings over the past 30 years have forced police to get search warrants in circumstances where they didn't need them before, to videotape witness statements and to provide more detailed evidence before a wiretap is authorized. Darryl Plecas, a criminology professor at UCFV and one of the study's authors, said he doesn't question the wisdom of those decisions. "They're important because they provide the safeguards that all Canadians want to see in the system," he said. But he said it's important to realize that the burden for following them has fallen largely on the shoulders of police -- with no increase in resources. In part because of court rulings, investigations take far more time now than they used to. In the mid-1970s, a typical drunk-driving investigation -- from breath sample to report to Crown -- took about an hour to complete, the study found. Today, it takes five hours. And a domestic assault investigation, which used to take an hour of police time 30 years ago, can now take anywhere from 10 to 12 hours. And court rulings aren't the only reason investigations take longer than they used to. New computer systems designed to increase police efficiency have, in many cases, eaten up as much time as they've saved, the study found. That's because new systems require extensive training and re-training of officers and are subject to glitches and breakdowns. Researchers determined how present-day police spend their time by giving officers logs in which they recorded what they were doing throughout the day. Figuring out how much time it took to do tasks 30 years ago was more challenging. To do that, researchers held a series of focus groups with veteran officers across B.C., asking them detailed questions about how their work has changed. The researchers also gained access to officers' old notebooks. "Police officers keep their notebooks forever," said Plecas. "Every time something happens, they write it down." The officers who participated in the study were also asked to create "flow charts" of a typical investigation today compared with 30 years ago, outlining the various investigative and procedural steps they have to take. Those charts show how court rulings and new technology have dramatically increased the hoops officers need to jump through to complete an investigation. For example, over the past 30 years, the number of steps required in a typical drug trafficking investigation has jumped to 65 from nine. - - - - Criminal Justice Then And Now Statistics show how the workload of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers in B.C. has changed from the 1960s to today: Break-and-enters 25% Clearance rate for B.C. break-and-enter investigations in 1962 8% Clearance rate for B.C. break-and-enter investigations in 2003 Homicide 90% Clearance rate for B.C. homicide investigations in 1962 70% Clearance rate for B.C. homicide investigations in 2003 Paperwork And Procedure 40% The share of an average officer's day that is now spent on paperwork. 9 The number of procedural steps in a typical drug trafficking investigation in the 1970s 65 The number of procedural steps in a typical drug trafficking investigation today Average time spent per day on administrative tasks and report writing by a typical RCMP officer: 1975: 1.5 hours 2005: 4 hours Source: University College of the Fraser Valley and Simon Fraser University Vancouver Sun - - -- Investigations Take Longer And Longer Estimated time to complete a typical investigation (hours): Type 1970s 1980s 1990s Now Break & Enter 5-7 5-7 6-10 5-10 Domestic Assault Up to 1 1-2 3-4 10-12 Impaired Driving 1 2 3 5 Source: University College of the Fraser Valley and Simon Fraser University - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman