NCJ Number
139536
Date Published
1991
Length
60 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the current status and future trends and issues in policing in Canada concludes that law enforcement in Canada is not in crisis and that issues that should be addressed are the achievement of practical goals, learning how to do community policing, overcoming organizational rigidity, and making all aspects of police performance responsive to appropriate oversight.
Abstract
Canadian police are well supported financially and have the capacity to handle the increasing burdens they face. However, personnel are not assigned either to functional tasks or to territorial commands according to any clear rationale connected with public safety. Extensive initiatives in community policing exist across Canada, but it will require more resources if it is to become institutionalized. Other issues and trends are the need to change management systems to permit decentralization of operational decisions, civilian review of the behavior of individual police officers, and widening of the issue of accountability.