The structure and role of the police
Defining police work: Policing includes activities of a public or private force acting legally on behalf of persons or organizations to maintain security and order. The entrance of private police operations (security, e.g.) is referred to as pluralization of policing.
History of policing
English Roots: Military used for major disturbances and pursuing thieves in some Cases. Policing started to become organized around 1200. Hue and Cry and the use of posses. Shire Reeve- name evolved into sheriff. Sheriff are being given more and more responsibilities- Alberta. Security within courthouses, escorting prisoners etc.- not regular police work. Comes Stabuli- name evolved into Constable. Main entry level policing rank. Statute of Westminster 1275: Citizen responsibility. Statute of Winchester 1285: Towns to keep a night watch. Justices of the Peace ACT 1361: Supervisors of the police and minor judicial functions. Bow Street Runners early 1700s: Policed London. Established by JP Henry Fielding. The new police: First formal police force and station was created by Sir Robert Peel in London, England, 1829. Included serving citizens, and crime prevention. Officers would be from the working class. Everyone would work under high standards. Developed principles that are still referred to today. First Commissioners: Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne.
Metropolitan Police Act
Established a professional police force for London, England. Full-time, uniformed, unarmed. One thousand men. Recruited from the working class. High standards of recruitment and training. Peel formulated several principles for policing.
Peel’s principles
- Prevent crime and disorder. 2. Recognize power of the police to fulfill their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions, and behaviour. 3. Secure of the willing cooperation of the public in the task of securing observance of laws. 4. The cooperation of the public diminishes the use of physical force and compulsion for achieving police objectives. 5. To seek and preserve public favour by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to law… Not giving perks, being impartial, not pursuing unemployed people… 6. Use physical force when persuasion, advice, and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public cooperation. Use minimum degree of physical force to achieve objective. 7. Police are the public, public are the police. 8. Strict adherence to public-executive functions, and to refrain from even seeming to usurp the powers of the judiciary of avenging individuals or the state, and of authoritatively judging guilt and punishing the guilty. 9. To recognize always the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them.
Policing in rural Ireland
Established in 1822. Robert Peel was the cabinet minister responsible for Ireland. Quasi-military: Armed. Housed in barracks. Mounted. Used non-military rank structure (constable, inspectors, etc.).
Early policing in Canada
The Frontier. Adopted the RIC model: the North-West Mounted Police 1873. Established forts across the west. Became the Royal Northwest Mounted Police in 1904. Joined with the Dominion police in 1920 to become the Royal Canadian Mounted police.
NWMP Alternative explanations for the origins
Traditional explanations: Control whisky trade between Americans and indigenous people. Protect the indigenous people from unscrupulous fur traders. Establish law and order to foster settlement of the west. Establish sovereignty so as to forestall annexation by the U.S. Critical Explanations: Ensure assimilation of indigenous people into white culture. Guarantee the orderly transfer of land from the indigenous peoples to the government. Protect the interests of central Canadian (Ont and Que) industrialists in the context of their investment and speculation in grain, timber, minerals, and land.
First commissioner of the NWMP
George Arthur French- Irish born Major-General in the British Army.
Early policing in BC
Victoria gets a police force in 1858 with Augustus Pemberton appointed as Commissioner of Police. BC became a crown colony in 1858. The BC Police Force was created that year. Chartres Brew was appointed Gold Commissioner and became the first Chief Constable. Vancouver Island and British Columbia colonies merge in 1866. Brew heads up the whole police force for the merged colony. BC became a province in 1871 – BC Provincial Police lasts until 1950 when the RCMP are contracted to provide provincial policing in BC. Chartres Brew- Irish born, Member of the RIC.
Early Urban Policing
Toronto crated police force in 1835. Victoria/New Westminster- 1873. Winnipeg- 1874. Vancouver- 1886. Regina- 1908. Montreal 1853. Adopted Peel’s London Approach to policing. Not as professional as Peel’s force. Heavily influenced by politics and patronage. No training. Emphasis on physical build.
Two perspectives on police roles
Social contract: Police are a politically neutral force that enforces the law and protects. Citizens voluntarily surrender some power and delegate them to police and state. Radical: Police are an instrument for governments and powerful interests to suppress dissent, stifle protest, maintain status quo. Repressive force, makes Canada a ‘police state’.
The defund the police movement
Arose out of high-profile incidents such as George Floyd’s killing by police officers in Minneapolis in May 25, 2020. Proposes reallocation of funding, resources, and taking use of force powers away from the police, and into community-centred forms of safety.
Police Organizations
Operational patrol. Investigative. Support services. Administrative. Human Resources- responsible for recruitment/problems within organization- performance related problems, ex. Sexual harassment incidents. Research and planning. Structure uses ranks: Chief constable. Deputy chief constables. Commissioned officers: Superintendents. Inspectors. Non-commissioned officers: Staff sergeant. Sergeant. Corporal. Constable.
Structure of contemporary policing
Public policing: federal, provincial, municipal, indigenous. Private security services. Parapolice services. Canada Border Services Agency. Canadian security Intelligence service. Communications security establishment: The latter two do not have enforcement powers.
Structure of contemporary policing
Jurisdictions and delivery by police force differs across the country- some cities have an independent police service, with provincial services outside the city, and RCMP delivering federal services. Some cities in BC contract the RCMP for their municipal services: If a community has more than 5000 people, they are responsible for their own policing.
The RCMP
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, 1985. RCMP enforces most federal statutes. 60% Percent are under contract to provincial, municipal areas- there are about 22,500 sworn RCMP officers in Canada. RCMP also do international peacekeeping. Observers question if RCMP has sufficient resources, and whether it is overextended. Additional concerns about RCMP acting as the municipal police force: Municipal forces are subject to boards, councils, but when RCMP does the work, there is no civilian oversight. Familiarity with the local community. Transfers out of the municipality. Further systemic issues include workplace culture, lack of self-reform, discrimination.
Provincial and regional police
Ontario, Quebec, and NL have provincial forces that police outside of city boundaries and enforce provincial laws as well as the criminal law. Some cities in Ontario contract with the OPP. Regional police services provide policing for some cities, municipalities. In BC and most other provinces the RCMP are contracted to provide provincial policing (70/30 cost sharing split).
