CANADIAN POLICE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES

Canadian Police Management Challenges

Canadian Police Management Challenges

Introduction

Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (DPSEP) and the seven agencies are responsible for Canada's policing, law enforcement, corrections and conditional releases, and national security. Under the DPSEP's control has been placed the Department of the Solicitor General (formerly in charge of the portfolio agencies), the National Crime Prevention Centre and the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (formerly under National Defense). The details of this major organizational change were still being worked out as of 2005 and—as with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—it will likely be several years before the dynamics of the new organizational relationships are fully understood. (Terrill, 2011)

Thesis Statement

Canadian police management is effectively tackling challenges due to its unique structure.

Discussion

Policing in Canada, as in most countries, is a function of geographic, social, economic, and political factors that have shaped the country. As in the United States, the earliest days of policing in Canada were characterized by a fragmented, local, and ad-hoc approach to law enforcement. While a night-watchman force made an appearance as early as 1651 in Quebec, the officers did not gain a law enforcement role until 1673 with the imposition of the British justice of the peace system. The position of constable was introduced to the French-speaking provinces in 1787, most particularly in the cities of Montreal and Quebec. (Cooley, 2010)

Police forces did not begin to appear in the English-speaking areas until the mid- to late eighteenth century. The development of policing in Upper Canada (now Ontario) followed a pattern similar to that of England, and English settlers incorporated the roles of sheriffs, constables, and justices of the peace into their settlements. In 1792 English common law was established as the law for Upper Canada, followed by the Parish and Town Officers Act of 1793. This act provided for the appointment of high constables who would in turn appoint citizens to serve as constables in each parish or township in the high constable's provincial district. Similarly, the governor of Newfoundland was empowered by royal proclamation in 1792 to appoint constables and justices of the peace. This constabulary-based system lasted until about the mid-nineteenth century. A rise in the perception of a crime problem—if not the actual development of a crime problem—eventually led municipalities to develop more modern police forces. For instance, a police force of six men replaced Toronto's night watchmen in 1835, and the Municipal Institutions of Canada Act of 1858 authorized municipalities to form police forces overseen by boards of commissioners. Through most of the late nineteenth century, a police presence was found mostly at the municipal level, following the English constabulary tradition. Organized policing came to the Canadian west even later. Partly due to sparse settlement and partly due to low rates of serious crime, the first organized police force did not arrive in British Columbia until 1858 with the onset of the gold rush. A formal provincial force was formed in 1871 when British Columbia ...