A VicPD report that outlines how a single police force could serve all of Greater Victoria is unlikely to move the region closer to Victoria’s goal of law-enforcement amalgamation.
The proposed distribution of officers and the fact the report was written unilaterally will be strikes against it in the eyes of other municipal leaders, who already see red whenever the topic is mentioned.
Regardless of where one stands on the issue of police amalgamation, Victoria’s obsession with the idea — understandable though it is — makes the department seem like one of those annoying uncles whom everyone tries to avoid at family gatherings.
The report was written by four Victoria police officers and one civilian, and was presented in camera to the city’s police board this month. It is to be released publicly at the next meeting, now that the province has appointed enough new members to get the board back up to a quorum.
The report suggests cutting the region into four districts and recommends ways to distribute officers among the districts. The districts correspond to the West Shore, Saanich, Central Saanich/North Saanich/Sidney and Victoria/Esquimalt/Oak Bay.
The deployment of resources is the most contentious subject, and is at the heart of other municipalities’ objections to any notion of amalgamation. Councils and police chiefs say they are best able to judge the policing needs of their communities, and they fear that Victoria wants to drag officers out of the suburban areas to police the downtown core.
Victoria makes no bones about being tired of policing the downtown crimes committed by people from all the surrounding communities. As the report notes, 27 per cent of the people in Greater Victoria pay “100 per cent of the policing for the business, recreational and service hub of the entire region.”
However, the report doesn’t make a compelling argument for what everyone would gain from unifying the region’s four police forces and two RCMP detachments. Its detailed breakdown of deployments would be useful if the region were moving ahead on amalgamation, but won’t persuade the municipalities that remain opposed to regionalization.
The decision about regionalization is not Victoria’s to make, but at least the city is trying to keep alive the debate about the best way to deliver police services in the region. The report points out the confusion and dispatching problems in the Peter Lee murder-suicide, when officers from three departments couldn’t figure out who was in charge, and Missing Women Commissioner Wally Oppal’s warning that criminals such as serial killer Robert Pickton elude patchwork police forces.
The suburban departments are satisfied that the integrated units such as the regional-crime unit and the road-safety unit address the important issues. They have recently agreed on a new formula that will standardize decisions on each department’s contribution to such units, which is a step forward.
But there is still nothing that compels departments to join the units or stay in them, as demonstrated by Victoria’s decision to pull out of the regional-crime unit.
Response to the report shows that opponents have not been persuaded. Saanich Chief Mike Chadwick says the integrated units work well. Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen points out Victoria has no authority to make recommendations about other departments’ services.
The report is preaching to the choir at the Victoria police board, which is in favour of a regional police force. It puts more flesh on the argument, but will do nothing to persuade the opponents.
This fall, the provincial police services office will talk to mayors about its recommendations for improved integration among the region’s police forces. Unless the province has suddenly developed a backbone, integration is as close as Victoria will get to amalgamation.
