THUNDER BAY – The local union president representing city police officers is adamant there should be no privatization of law enforcement.
Thunder Bay Police Association president Greg Stephenson said a survey recently conducted by the Police Association of Ontario found out of 1,310 respondents polled, only 13 per cent said they would be in support privatization of police services.
Of those opposed, more than 70 per cent who described themselves as strongly opposed to outsourcing of policing duties believed private security would compromise public safety and 63 per cent said they did not believe private security would be equipped to handle benign calls that have the potential for violence.
“It’s a pretty overwhelming number that aren’t in favour of police privatizing services,” Stephenson said. “I think it’s the standard of service. You can’t put a price on the standard of service. We have certain standards and oversights.”
The survey and Stephenson’s remarks come as a response to a report conducted by the Association of Ontario Municipalities, entitled AMO’s Policing Modernization Report, which created a task force of mayors and police service board representatives to analyze the state of policing in the province.
The report reveals people in Ontario pay more for policing than in any province, at $320 per capita. While having a provincial police force, which many other provinces do not, certainly adds another cost compared to other provinces the Ontario rate is still $24 per person higher than Quebec, which also has their own provincial police.
The report comes back with a number of recommendations to help control costs and increase efficiency, but direct privatization of police forces does not appear to be a significant focus.
One of the recommendations is the creation of safety and security webs, which are designed to provide collaboration between a number of different organizations.
“Security is built upon a broad safety and security web including private security, local health professionals, community groups, and municipal, provincial and federal government agencies. It is the effective functioning of this web which will deliver better, more efficient and effective public safety outcomes, not just police,” the report states.
“Many have described the security web as a change from a vertical structure with police at the top of the hierarchical structure to that of a horizontal structure, with police as just one of many participants, albeit with authority and powers not provided to others.”
Policing during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where a special body organized security which was provided by a number of different partners including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Vancouver Police Department and Canadian Forces, was cited as an example of a web.
The report makes it clear police would have to accommodate other providers.
“A new model of policing will incorporate the growth and presence of private security, the growing involvement of social service and health care workers and agencies. Police services must align and adapt with other participants. Police no longer have a monopoly on providing public safety and security, because they are but one of many actors currently operating in that space,” the report states.
Stephenson maintains police forces, which have to answer to civilian watchdog organizations, have more responsibility to public safety than a private entity.
“We are accountable to the people of Ontario. We have the (Special Investigations Unit) and we have the (Office of the Independent Police Review Director),” he said.
“We believe we provide the best service available.”
