Pubdate: Tue, 14 Feb 2006
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2006 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Vito Pilieci

TIME TO BEEF UP RCMP: SENATOR

Staff levels at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police need to be almost 
doubled if Canada hopes to remain secure, according to Senator Colin Kenny.

In a column appearing in the Citizen today, Mr. Kenny says, "there 
are too many guns on the streets, the drug trade appears to be out of 
control, and several reports by our Senate committee for national 
security and defence have shown that in an era of worldwide terrorist 
attacks, our coastlines and border crossings are virtually undefended."

He also says that Canada's air and sea ports are "riddled" with 
organized crime, which creates opportunities for terrorists and gun 
runners to enter Canada.

Mr. Kenny argued that putting money into regional police forces is 
not going to help solve the crime issues that Canada is now facing.

He pointed to a fragmentation of responsibilities at Canada's air and 
sea ports, and land crossings. At these points of entry, 
responsibility for the nation's security is shared among Transport 
Canada staff, airport authorities' security officers, staff from the 
Canadian Air Transport Security Authority and municipal or provincial 
police forces.

Mr. Kenny said while all of these agencies are trying to defend 
Canada's borders, the criminal element has become organized, working 
as one unit that is "skilled and single-minded".

He said only a national police force such as the RCMP can organize 
itself in such a way that our borders can be secured.

"What Canada needs to beat criminals that don't restrict themselves 
to municipal or provincial boundaries is an intelligence-led policing 
effort with the resources and capabilities necessary to meet any 
threat, anywhere in the country," he states.

Mr. Kenny challenged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to make the 
expansion of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police a top priority.

The force currently employs 16,000 officers. Mr. Kenny would like to 
see that increase to at least 21,000 by 2016.

He said that even staff increases such as this would not give the 
country the policing force that it needs, however, "it will increase 
the force's capacity, freeing up experienced officers to tackle our 
national security problems on behalf of all Canadians," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman