Mayor Lois Jackson will be leading a forum on policing and regionalization with key stakeholders from around the Lower Mainland next week.
The meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, March 13 at the Delta Town & Country Inn, will be an opportunity to discuss whether the region should move ahead with the amalgamation of police forces, one of the highlighted recommendations in a report from the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry.
The meeting, open to the public, will be a panel discussion that will include Wally Oppal, commissioner of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, Dr. Darryl Plecas, professor of criminology at the University of the Fraser Valley, Vancouver police deputy chief constable Doug LePard, RCMP assistant commissioner Norm Lipinski and Delta police Chief Jim Cessford.
Oppal had made the controversial recommendation for amalgamation, also suggesting mayors no longer serve as police board chairs, but instead change to nonvoting members.
The Vancouver police board recently endorsed the recommendation, but it has met with mixed reaction, including opposition from Delta and West Vancouver.
Jackson and Cessford this year held a news conference following the release of the report, insisting Delta's community-based policing model works best for the municipality.
Both questioned how the proposal would benefit the citizens and businesses of Delta.
Wondering what the cost of the undertaking would be for local taxpayers, they suggested only big cities seem to benefit from such regionalization.
Jackson cited Ottawa and Halifax as examples, noting their regionalization has led to reduced service levels outside of the larger metropolitan areas and increased policing costs. Crime rates were not impacted in the exercise, she noted.
A staff report to Delta council this week reiterated many of those concerns, stating decisions regarding the allocation of resources would be based on greatest need, with the inevitable de-prioritizing of local needs and concerns. In addition to the loss of local control, other concerns include Delta paying more for reduced service levels and loss of democratic accountability.
"The question then is not so much one of 'regionalization versus community policing' but rather a question of how strategic regionalization can be implemented effectively while retaining the core of community policing at the local level," the report states.
The report notes Cessford has developed a position paper that lays out a strategy for dealing with higher level, complex policing needs by creating a B.C. Specialized Policing Agency, while leaving community-based policing and local priorities to individual municipalities.
It's not the first time there's been debate about the merits of a regional police force. In 1989, for example, then Delta chief constable Pat Wilson predicted the move to regional policing in the Lower Mainland was inevitable.
Wilson, who presented a report to municipal council, in an interview with the Optimist at that time said the challenge was to make sure the community model that's in place remains.
"Smaller departments sometimes have difficulty conducting long-term investigations because of time, manpower and financial limitations," he said.
"The flip side to getting so many benefits is ensuring that police service at the community level is as good or enhanced because people don't want to see that go."
He also described the current system as costly and inefficient.
"I am certain that some kind of regional policing will be in place some day because there are ample examples that multiple forces don't work," he said.
Wilson's statement proved to be prophetic as serial killer Willie Pickton would embark on a murderous spree a few years later.
In his scathing report, Oppal noted several failures that allowed Pickton to prey for years, including a fragmented police structure in the Greater Vancouver.
Next week's forum will take place from 7 to 9: 30 p.m.
