If some integration of police services in the capital region is good, would not full integration be better? That question is not answered in a review of integrated policing units in Greater Victoria conducted by the province鈥檚 policing services division. The review is not so much a study as it is an inventory that presents little new information. The resources would have been better spent analyzing the potential benefits or drawbacks of one regional department.
Would Greater Victoria be better served by one police service, rather than seven? On the surface, that seems the logical way to go. Criminals have no respect for municipal boundaries. Social and mental-health issues are not confined to particular areas. Traffic flows freely throughout the region, regardless of where one district stops and another begins.
Perhaps one large police department is not the answer, but the question should be asked. And the integration study would have been that opportunity.
But it was precluded from going in that direction.
鈥淭he review was intended to identify issues and obtain perspectives 鈥� but not to provide conclusions or recommendations,鈥� says the report given to the region鈥檚 mayors in June.
There鈥檚 no question that inter-departmental co-operation works. Ten integrated policing units operate across Greater Victoria and Vancouver Island, including the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit, the Integrated Road Safety Unit and the Mobile Youth Services Team.
Since the report was issued, it has been announced that two units 鈥� the Regional Crime Unit and the Greater Victoria Integrated Dive Team 鈥� will be disbanded at the end of the year. The crime unit has had major successes in nabbing the region鈥檚 most prolific property criminals, but it has more or less fallen apart as various departments have withdrawn.
And therein lies the weakness of the current approach to regional services. Participation is voluntary. A department not wanting to continue its membership in a unit can withdraw.
Administrators necessarily must put their own municipalities鈥� well-being ahead of regional concerns. As Victoria police Chief Frank Elsner pointed out at a recent sa国际传媒 editorial board meeting: 鈥淭here comes a point when we have to look after ourselves. We have to make sure we leave the lights on at home.鈥�
While not making recommendations, the policing services report said one of the views presented 鈥渋s that the use of integrated teams does not address the need for much greater regionalization on a permanent basis.
鈥淎lso, there is skepticism among some forces that interest in integrated teams has been driven more by efforts to enhance the symbolism of co-operation, rather than a concern for delivering police services in the most cost-effective way for all jurisdictions.
鈥淕enerally speaking, there is strong support for the mandate of existing teams and a respect for the quality of service being provided. However 鈥� the capacity of some teams has been affected by cutbacks in resources caused by the withdrawal of participants and other sources of funding.鈥�
No one questions that the various police departments can and do co-operate frequently, that relationships are good. But the voluntary nature of those relationships means that co-operation can give way to local priorities.
While policing is generally a municipal responsibility, this issue of regional policing is bigger than any one municipality. The province should step in.
Provincial politicians profess a reluctance to interfere with municipal independence, but that reluctance is flexible 鈥� when Esquimalt wanted to contract with the RCMP for policing services, the government didn鈥檛 hesitate to order it to remain in a partnership with Victoria.
While it seems obvious that Greater Victoria should have one police service, proper research might indicate otherwise. Nevertheless, the question should be asked.
