BC Policing and Community Safety Plan - Ministry of Justice ...

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•¡Traffic and road safetyDedicating sustained police resources to traffic enforcement was identified as critical to maintaining safe roadsand public safety. Participants viewed road safety as an ongoing concern for communities and agreed thatpolice should continue to focus on impaired driving, reckless driving, distracted driving, speeding and pedestriansafety.•¡DemographicsParticipants discussed the impact of unique demographic patterns on community safety and noted thatdifferent demographic compositions can bring diverse criminal activities into focus. Areas with youngerdemographics have criminal activity more centered on drugs and prostitution while areas with larger elderlypopulations see more criminal activities like fraud, property crime and elder abuse. Some participants notedthat another population factor that affects community safety is tourism and seasonal recreation. Communitypopulations expand and contract by as much as three times their average size during busy tourist seasons;consequently, police near popular ski and lake resort areas can experience major peaks in demand which placeconsiderable strain on community resources.•¡EconomicsMany participants noted the impact that economic cycles have on the prevalence of crime and public safetyissues as well the availability of resources to deal with those concerns. Economies reliant upon a naturalresource operation or a dominant source of revenue have been impacted by the rise and fall of industry,creating a boom/bust environment. Participants expressed concerns that the increased wealth from industrialgrowth in small communities has come at a high price in terms of community health, as a consequence ofactivities such as drug use and prostitution. Some participants noted that this phenomenon is apparent inmany communities in northern British Columbia whereas southern metropolitan areas with more diversifiedeconomies experience less impact. Participants also agreed that in communities where the economy iseroding, families become more unstable with an increase in the illicit drug business, drug and alcohol abuse,and family violence. Consequently, police and related community support services are stretched thinner bythese demands.¡ • GeographyParticipants spoke about the distinctions between regions and rural versus urban communities, and how thosefactors impact on the prevalence or prominance of many of the criminal activity and public safety challengesidentified in the previous section. Participants noted that large, urban communities have significantly morepolice and support resources than their rural counterparts. Rural communities require police to cover a muchlarger geographical area with small detachments and rural landscapes often present challenges that urbancentres typically do not face. Participants discussed concerns about expectations in smaller communitieswhere police are expected to cover more ground with fewer resources and offer the same range and quality ofservices as urban centres that have more community support services.52BRITISH COLUMBIA POLICING AND COMMUNITY SAFETY PLAN
Key issues identified in the roundtable discussions•¡PolicingOverall, a key topic of discussion in many of the roundtable sessions was the desire of the participants to seethe provincial government provide stronger leadership, better coordination of services, and alignment offunding with key public safety priorities.Specifically, the topics identified with respect to policing issues fell into four broad themes:ACCOUNTABILITYPolice should build stronger relationships with communitiesThe current community input structures into local police governance should be reviewed andstrengthenedPolice performance should be adequately measuredPolice should manage communications more proactivelyPolice require more specialized training with respect to contemporary policing issuesFUNDINGA province-wide, equitable police funding formula should be developedFunding levels should be reflective of each level of government’s responsibilityEFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT POLICINGJustice system reforms should be implemented in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency ofpolicingSufficient resources should be allocated to social service agencies dealing with mental health, addictionand homelessness in order to relieve overburdened policeStructural changes to police service delivery models should be considered to decrease police costsInnovative and sustainable management of police and civilian staff should be considered to decreasepolicing costsStrategies for reducing the administrative burden on police should be developedCOLLABORATION AND COORDINATIONGreater collaboration is required between the justice system and related social and health systems in orderto achieve true efficiencies and benefitsBetter coordination/consultation/communication is required between levels of government with respectto policing issuesMental health and addiction concerns require special attention from justice and social service providersA more coordinated response to domestic violence is requiredAPPENDIX A 53
Page 1 and 2:
British Columbia Policing andCommun
Page 3 and 4: ContentsMinister’s message 2Execu
Page 5 and 6: Executive SummaryIntroductionThe Br
Page 7 and 8: •¡Theme #1 - Rational and Equita
Page 9 and 10: PART I - Policing in British Columb
Page 11 and 12: MUNICIPAL POLICE DEPARTMENTSCurrent
Page 13 and 14: THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIONS OFFI
Page 15 and 16: Currently in British Columbia the d
Page 17 and 18: A significant addition to the 2012
Page 19 and 20: An important part of the developmen
Page 21 and 22: •¡Federal Provincial Territorial
Page 23 and 24: In February 2012, the Federal/Provi
Page 25 and 26: •¡Telephone surveyA telephone su
Page 27 and 28: Vision and Values•¡VisionPolicin
Page 29 and 30: detractors. Careful consideration o
Page 31 and 32: community goals and objectives; con
Page 33 and 34: community members and the First Nat
Page 35 and 36: Theme #3 - Collaborative: police, g
Page 37 and 38: enforcement agencies to protect com
Page 39 and 40: NEXT STEPS: The Ministry of Justice
Page 41 and 42: MISSING PERSONS LEGISLATIONCHALLENG
Page 43 and 44: Potential amendments may include re
Page 45 and 46: THEMEEnhance community safetyACTION
Page 47 and 48: BRITISH COLUMBIA POLICING ANDCOMMUN
Page 49 and 50: ACTION ITEM 2013 2014 2015 BEYOND 2
Page 51 and 52: APPENDIX A: Community Consultationa
Page 53: supports, they also talked about th
Page 57 and 58: •¡Multi-agency collaboration and
Page 59 and 60: APPENDIX B: Milestones in the Histo
Page 61 and 62: Justice Oppal concluded that there
Page 63 and 64: The death of Robert Dziekanski and
Page 65 and 66: APPENDIX B 63
Page 67 and 68: Oppal, W. T. (1994). Closing the ga
Page 69 and 70: ISPOTJIBCJIBC PALGCMCLGBTMCMMPSAMPU
Page 71: DECEMBER 2013
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