Pubdate: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Times Colonist Contact: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Author: Dean Fortin Note: Dean Fortin is a Victoria councillor, board member of CREST, the local emergency radio system, and has served on the Victoria city police board. PURSUIT OF JUSTICE REQUIRES INTEGRATION A recent editorial in the Times Colonist urged the House of Commons to do a better job of fighting crime. In Greater Victoria, with new mayors and councils, it is time for us to look to get our house in order, too. We have been debating the issue of amalgamating police services in the Capital Regional District endlessly, and it certainly appears that amalgamation of police forces is still a long way off in the future, if ever. The previous B.C. Liberal solicitor general, Rich Coleman, and the city of Victoria may favour amalgamation but Oak Bay, Saanich and Central Saanich are opponents of a single regional police force. There is just not enough political will to amalgamate police services at the present time. But if we can not agree on amalgamation, we should be able to pull off the integration of some key services. Integration means that major departments would work regionwide but each police force would keep its own identity and patrols. Examples of major departments could include cyber-crimes, drugs/gangs, and serious crimes. Serous crimes include homicides and attempts, robberies and violent offences against persons. All are services that are highly technical, capital-intensive and specialized. Cross-jurisdictional policing issues have received greater public attention and scrutiny as a result of the on-going Pickton murder investigation in the Lower Mainland. Locally, recent reports of various investigations have illustrated the need to look to integrating our specialized teams around the region. Whether a high-profile traffic death in Oak Bay, a drug house bust in Saanich or an execution-style murder in Esquimalt and then Victoria, all could benefit from being investigated by a highly specialized team that has the benefit of specialized training, ongoing opportunities for officers to hone their skills and the appropriate resources needed to carry out investigations. More and more, the courts are demanding a higher standard of investigation and higher level of evidence. As well, technological advances are producing more tools for our police, but are costly to implement and train for. When it comes to drugs, cyber-crime and gangs, the bad guys do not care about municipal boundaries. The public must have confidence that resources are being used in the most effective manner possible and that jurisdictional issues are not interfering with the pursuit of justice. CRD municipalities may be divided over amalgamation of police services into a single police force. However, local politicians and police chiefs have come together in the past to work on integrating specialized police forces. Discussions between municipalities in 2000 resulted in the establishment of charters of governance for the co-ordination of canine, crowd management, dive team units, and a critical incident negotiating team -- but there was no progress on integrating specialized police forces. In 2003 local mayors and police chiefs entered into discussions but again failed to reach consensus on integrating specialized police forces. In 2004 this prompted Coleman to issue the threat of forced integration should municipalities fail to make progress on integrating specialized police services in the "near future." Coleman did not follow through on this threat likely because of political pressure from MLAs with municipalities opposing any change, and the potential for forced integration to become an election issue. The elections have passed. It is time for the political resistance to give way in the name of public safety. The integration of some key police services just makes good practical sense. It is time for the new solicitor general, John Les, to provide some leadership on this issue in the capital region that we locally cannot seem to get. In the end, it should not be about local politics -- it should be about fulfilling our mandates to protect and serve our citizens. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman