Community-based policing and a regional force are not mutually exclusive ideas.
That was the message some panelists brought to the Mayor's Dialogue on the Regionalization of Policing in Ladner Wednesday night.
Delta Mayor Lois Jackson organized the discussion - which included former attorney general Wally Oppal, Vancouver police Deputy Chief Doug LePard, RCMP E Division Assistant Commissioner Norm Lipinski, Delta police Chief Jim Cessford and Delta chief administrative officer George Harvie - after the release of Oppal's 63 recommendations following the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry.
The one that has received the most attention, and proved to be the most controversial, since the report was released in December is the establishment of a regional police force for the Lower Mainland.
Oppal has said if a regional force had been in place during the time convicted serial killer Willie Pickton was luring women from the Downtown Eastside to his Port Coquitlam pig farm, he could have been stopped sooner.
"Had there been co-operative policing at that time, we would have apprehended Pickton a lot sooner and a lot of lives would be saved," Oppal told the crowd of more than 100 at the Delta Town & Country Inn.
Many opponents to the idea, including Jackson and Cessford, have voiced concerns that a regional force will mean a move away from community-based policing and smaller municipalities will lose out.
"It has been proved over and over again that we are well served by our municipal force," Jackson said.
She acknowledged that mistakes were made during the Pickton investigation, but added a regional force is not the answer.
"Regionalization will not stop the marginalization of women... and it will not stop violence against women."
Oppal stressed there can still be a community-based model within a regional force.
"You can have both," he said. "Those two concepts in principle are not mutually exclusive."
He gave the example of New York City, which has a large force that polices the entire area but does a good job of policing at the community level.
Jackson voiced concerns that a regionalized force would see larger centres, such as Vancouver, reap all the benefits while smaller communities with less crime would see a decrease in services.
"Delta police is a no call too small department," she said, adding that approach could be lost in a regional force.
LePard, who lives in Delta, said the Lower Mainland is the only major metropolitan area in Canada not to adopt a regional police force.
"If we were starting from scratch, no one would design what we have now," he said.
LePard said his department is not advocating for a regional force, but has been on record as supportive of the idea for decades.
The debate isn't a new one, but was recently reignited after Oppal's recommendation.
LePard said that while the various police departments across the Lower Mainland work well together, a regional force would break down boundaries that exist when different entities come together on any given case.
"We have good police in Metro Vancouver," he said. "We get along very well, we cooperate very well... There are structural boundaries to success. The logistics naturally creates delays and problems."
LePard agreed with Oppal that a regional force could still provide policing at a community level.
"You can have community policing in a small police department and a large police department," he said. "You can have very good community policing in a large department. These things are not mutually exclusive.
"Why can't we look into a model and a formula that would include the service level you're looking for in Delta?"
Cessford has long suggested the province should look at establishing regional forces that focus on specific issues that span jurisdictions, such as gang violence, and leave local policing to the respective departments.
He said he does not support a generalized amalgamation of police services for the region and that a regional force would increase the gap between police and the public.
"The public needs to trust and have confidence in their police," he said.
