Power From the Street: The Canadian Municipal Police (From Police Powers in Canada: The Evolution and Practice of Authority, P 24-43, 1994, R.C. Macleod and David Schneiderman, eds. - See NCJ-157774)

• NCJ Number: 157776
• Author(s): G Marquis
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: University of Toronto Press
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This historical overview of Canadian municipal police departments from the period 1830 to 1980 focuses on the Canadian political culture that has basically allowed police a free hand.

Abstract

This essay describes the origins of the municipal police department, the evolution of the concept of accountability, and the three primary anticipated functions of the newly developed municipal police agencies, including keeping public order, controlling and detecting crime, and fulfilling a service/regulatory function. In addition to the development of criminal law, technology has been instrumental in defining the operational side of policing. The essay also explores the changes wrought by post-World War II urbanization, the development of provincial intervention in municipal affairs, and the expanded supervisory role filled by the courts. The author concludes that, despite continuing attempts at reform, the crime-fighting image of the police has held up in Canadian society, and that today's municipal police departments remain essentially a 19th-Century bureaucracy based on force, discipline, information gathering, and community service. 38 notes