Top B.C. cop all business
Brenda Butterworth-Carr tells Kelowna chamber the RCMP has private-sector attitude
Brenda Butterworth-Carr is running the B.C. RCMP like a business.
“I know some people, usually businesspeople, think that can’t be done because the RCMP is a public service delivery provider,” said the provincial police force’s commanding officer.
“But really, I run it like I’m CEO of the B.C. RCMP. We’re a business. Granted, we’re a unique business. But we run it like business.”
Vancouver-based Butterworth-Carr spoke to a Kelowna Chamber of Commerce lunch crowd on Friday at the Coast Capri Hotel.
She noted there are RCMP detachments in 144 communities across the province and the police force also serves 121 First Nations communities. The B.C. RCMP has an annual budget of $1.3 billion and its 10,000 employees respond to 1.4 million calls per year.
“Ninety-nine per cent of the time we get it right,” said Butterworth-Carr.
“We’re a success. We’re sustainable, accountable and responsible. We provide a dividend in community safety, a return on investments in community safety.”
In the Central Okanagan, she noted personal violent crimes are down, but property crime is up and the opioid crisis continues to rage.
“We have to disrupt the supply of opioids, especially fentanyl, to reduce use,” she said.
“Thirty per cent of fentanyl is distributed through organized crime gangs. We need the community to report drug crime and information to the RCMP so we can investigate.”
Arresting gang members and seizing their guns are immediate solutions.
But the RCMP is also helping gang members to exit that life as a way of fighting organized crime.
Butterworth-Carr, who is from the Trondek Hwechin Han Nation in the Yukon, is the first Indigenous woman to hold the top RCMP job in the province.
She’s been a Mountie for 31 years and worked in 14 communities in the Yukon, Vancouver, Prince George and national headquarters. When she was commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP for five years, she was the first Aboriginal woman to command a RCMP division.
Before taking B.C.’s top RCMP job 16 months ago, Butterworth-Carr was assistant commissioner and the officer in charge of criminal operations core policing.
Whenever she speaks to a group, she reiterates her three-pronged vision for the B.C. RCMP: effective and efficient policing, wellness of employees, and building and strengthening community relationships.
She admits such an ambitious and far-reaching vision means change.
“We have to do things differently because we aren’t as effective and efficient as we could be.”
That’s why a complete review of how the RCMP delivers service is being done.
For instance, she said an RCMP officer making $125,000 a year should be focused on street, domestic and cyber crime, guns and gangs, the opiates crisis and road safety.
While conceding bylaw enforcement is important, Butterworth-Carr indicated it should not be the job of highly paid and highly skilled RCMP officers. She’s also a fan of alternative justice. For instance, an addict being released from custody with conditions should not be required to stay away from drugs and alcohol as a condition.
“It sets them up to fail and only creates more work for the RCMP when we have to arrest them again for breaching conditions,” she said.
“It’s much better to spend the time and effort on prevention and programs for offenders to succeed. This is where community relationships come in.”
For instance, community drug and alcohol programs, business, mental health agencies and child advocacy groups help the RCMP with prevention of crimes and aiding offenders.
“Some people need to be incarcerated,” she admitted.
“But many times, the time and money is better spent on prevention and programs for offenders.”
Road safety initiatives are targeting distracted and impaired driving and prevention.