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Is Canada over-policed?


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When it comes to budget cuts, police seem to always be sacrosanct. I've seen cuts to teachers, social workers, scientists, all kinds of admin staff and almost every other type of government employee. But not police. Nor, come to think of it, fireman.

This editorial claims that policing costs have risen faster than the rate of inflation in Canada (at all 3 levels of government) despite a falling crime rate. It also claims that police resources are used inefficiently with $100k a year policeman doing all kinds of work that could be done by lesser trained staff.

The vast majority of policing costs – up to 90 per cent – are the ever-expanding salaries of uniformed officers, of which there are more and more. According to Statistics Canada, there were 188 officers per 100,000 Canadians in 2003, and 202 in 2012. The cost of policing across Canada that year was $13.5-billion

Perhaps when marijuana is legalized, that would be a good opportunity to examine policing needs. Maybe there is an opportunity to redirect resources towards supporting people, not prosecuting them.

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Perhaps when marijuana is legalized, that would be a good opportunity to examine policing needs. Maybe there is an opportunity to redirect resources towards supporting people, not prosecuting them.

One would think, but then, who is going to police all the bootlegged Pot?

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It depends on population density and area. In Abbotsford we have about 215 officers to cover an area of 145 square miles with a population of 140,000 and over 30 kilometres of US border. That 215 includes detectives and all other special units so when it comes to patrol officers, we are definitely not over policed.

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Canada is actually under policed compared to most of the rest of the world.

As per Wiki we have 202 cops per 100k population. The UK has 290, Germany has 296, the US has 348, France has 356, Italy 465.

Policing costs have risen faster than inflation because of spineless, incompetent governments giving in to police unions. The increasing costs are all due to big salary increases.

According to Wiki, Canada has 202 police per 100k. Norway has 222, Denmark 241, Ireland 261, the UK, 280, Germany 296, The United States has 348, France 356. Maybe we don't have too many cops. Maybe we have too few - and they are way
According to Wiki, Canada has 202 police per 100k. Norway has 222, Denmark 241, Ireland 261, the UK, 280, Germany 296, The United States has 348, France 356. Maybe we don't have too many cops. Maybe we have too few - and they are way
According to Wiki, Canada has 202 police per 100k. Norway has 222, Denmark 241, Ireland 261, the UK, 280, Germany 296, The United States has 348, France 356. Maybe we don't have too many cops. Maybe we have too few - and they are way
According to Wiki, Canada has 202 police per 100k. Norway has 222, Denmark 241, Ireland 261, the UK, 280, Germany 296, The United States has 348, France 356. Maybe we don't have too many cops. Maybe we have too few - and they are way
Edited by Argus
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I can't understand why communities don't use security guards more. Many have a police foundation training and they could do many things the police do and SG don't make much money, depends were they are working but mostly make 13.00 hrly except in places like Toronto.

In rural areas 13hr might be considered a reasonable wage for most things. You don't want to arm them, though. I think if you're going to have armed security you want to pay enough to get a reasonably competent and capable individual, say $35-45k per year. Security guards don't have the same power of arrest as police, though, and the community is open to liability issues if they use excessive force.

Edited by Argus
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Canada is actually under policed compared to most of the rest of the world.

As per Wiki we have 202 cops per 100k population. The UK has 290, Germany has 296, the US has 348, France has 356, Italy 465.

Policing costs have risen faster than inflation because of spineless, incompetent governments giving in to police unions. The increasing costs are all due to big salary increases.

According to Wiki, Canada has 202 police per 100k. Norway has 222, Denmark 241, Ireland 261, the UK, 280, Germany 296, The United States has 348, France 356. Maybe we don't have too many cops. Maybe we have too few - and they are way
According to Wiki, Canada has 202 police per 100k. Norway has 222, Denmark 241, Ireland 261, the UK, 280, Germany 296, The United States has 348, France 356. Maybe we don't have too many cops. Maybe we have too few - and they are way
According to Wiki, Canada has 202 police per 100k. Norway has 222, Denmark 241, Ireland 261, the UK, 280, Germany 296, The United States has 348, France 356. Maybe we don't have too many cops. Maybe we have too few - and they are way
According to Wiki, Canada has 202 police per 100k. Norway has 222, Denmark 241, Ireland 261, the UK, 280, Germany 296, The United States has 348, France 356. Maybe we don't have too many cops. Maybe we have too few - and they are way

Which may mean they are even worse over-policed. I don't understand how the policing ratio is increasing even as the crime rate drops.

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Perhaps he's thinking of the aboriginal women who are missing?

I suppose that's a possibility, though they don't add up to a whole lot (most of them are murdered, and not missing, and not all of the missing have been murdered).

Edited by Smallc
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I wouldn't either. It certainly can be a tough job but the question is whether we need $100k a year people for everything that they're doing.

I agree. I believe that a policeman is well trained to deal with dangerous situations, protection and law enforcement.

They are not needed to write tickets, escort funerals, direct traffic at construction sites and a variety of other situations. Locally, we have an auxiliary corps of volunteers led by regular police. Our central business district of our town hires its own parking supervisor whose job is to apply local by-laws.

They are being payed for their qualifications and deserve that compensation but are wasted on situations where people of their caliber are not required.

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That's fine. But tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands would. And for a lot less than $100k.

I guess what I meant was, they are worth a lot more. Them, nurses, high school teachers, etc. God help them.

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I wouldn't either. It certainly can be a tough job but the question is whether we need $100k a year people for everything that they're doing.

I was going to answer with basically what Big Guy said.

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In Winnipeg (and I'm sure other places) things are changing. They have a lot of police, but, as it is one of Canada's most violent cities, they're kept very busy. A corps of cadets has been created, with lower pay and fewer responsibilities:

http://www.winnipeg.ca/policerecruiting/cadet/benefits.aspx

It seems to be working very well. Police very rarely have to do things like direct traffic anymore.

As a comparison, police officer salaries:

http://www.winnipeg.ca/policerecruiting/constable/benefits.aspx

Edited by Smallc
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Our force has unarmed volunteer reserves who do things like traffic control and a citizens patrol does things like cruising parking lots looking for mischief and stolen vehicles. We have a large rural area in the western part of the city that the police nicknamed the wild west. Not because of what goes on there but because they don't have the personnel to patrol it, all they can do is respond to calls.

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I also think we rely too much on the police and generally do not want to get involved as a witness to a crime.

How many readers would report a person backing into another car in a parking lot and drive away?

If you saw someone breaking into a car in some downtown, what would you do?

If you saw a man and woman arguing and the man hit the woman what would you do? How about the woman hitting the man?

We do have a Neighborhood Watch Program in our area with signs in windows. There are a number of elementary schools in the area so children are encouraged to seek refuge and safety in local identified Watch homes.

Finally, I believe that we would require far fewer law enforcement officers if we switched to a serious and encompassing CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) system in our towns and cities. Not only does it discourage criminals it also makes prosecution of crimes easier and more efficient.

Edited by Big Guy
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Like with all public services, their goal isn't to serve the public but to continue to grow the department. And there's no room for opponents in this worldview.

Toronto's Deputy Chief recently said that Police aren't being used efficiently and there's certainly room to trim the staffing levels. Well he's on a little break now.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-police-deputy-chief-on-leave-after-giving-budget-speech/article28277861/


One of Toronto’s police leaders is on leave after giving a speech calling for drastic cost-saving changes to the force.

Deputy Chief Peter Sloly, long seen as a reformer, is also the subject of three union complaints after he slammed the billion-dollar police budget on Friday and said hundreds of officers’ jobs could stand to be trimmed. The remarks to a small group of young entrepreneurs were streamed online.

On Tuesday, Deputy Chief Sloly was off work. Mark Pugash, spokesman for the service, said the deputy chief is simply taking annual leave, and it was completely his choice to do so.

Only the police would have people believe that dude's "annual leave" just happened right after he torched the department. :lol:

Edited by Boges
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I guess what I meant was, they are worth a lot more. Them, nurses, high school teachers, etc. God help them.

Society cannot afford to pay $100k salaries to every public servant. Particularly those with very little in the way of unique or difficult to obtain skills. The fact most of the people on the Ontario 'sunshine list' who earn more than $100k are people who wear polyester uniforms and have little more than a high school diploma is an indication of how far out of wack salaries have gotten.

Edited by Argus
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