Dear Editor,
[Re: Split slow, Langley Advance Times, May 18]
Is it time for a B.C. provincial police force as communities grapple with public safety?
It seems that the April decision of Langley Township to discontinue sharing a RCMP force with Langley City has opened a new can of worms over policing in the province, one that will perhaps ramp up discussions over a move from the RCMP to a provincial police force.
Having lived through the policing fiasco in Surrey, and researched various aspects of it as a criminologist, I can only hope that any debates over such a transition will avoid the pitfalls we experienced in Surrey.
First among these was reducing issues of public safety and wellbeing to policing, and pouring hundreds of millions of public dollars into a poorly planned transition, which may be reversed. This meant underfunding, cutting, or halting community infrastructures and services that can contribute to public safety at the roots.
SFU criminology professor Robert Gordon is absolutely correct in saying that we need to focus more broadly on public safety: “That takes a sting out of the context of police and policing when you’re talking instead – and in a progressive way – about services that ensure public safety in all its various forms.”
The desire to move on from the RCMP is understandable. Professor Gordon rightly refers to it as a “colonial hangover.” This is why Alberta has already taken steps, allowing Grande Prairie to shift to a municipal force, and Saskatchewan is contemplating a similar move provincially. Gordon is right that the RCMP should be disbanded or reduced to a tourist attraction.
But spending hundreds of millions to change uniforms will not address public safety. Community resources and services must be properly funded and supported, not defunded to prioritize policing.
Dr. Jeff Shantz, Kwantlen Polytechnic University Department of Criminology, Surrey campus
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• READ MORE: Township votes to split with shared RCMP detachment
• READ MORE: Local policing by the numbers
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