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.