Police have to learn to do more with less, says justice professor
‘We have to look at … efficiencies and saving costs’ without cutting service
Creating an efficient and effective police force isn’t as simple as putting more boots on the street, says a Calgary justice professor.
Responding to clashes earlier this week between Police Chief Roger Chaffin and Calgary Police Association (CPA) head Les Kaminski over an expected tight city budget, Mount Royal University justice studies professor Kelly Sundberg said learning to do more with less is crucial.
“I think that, not just in Calgary but across the province, we have to look at means for achieving efficiencies and saving costs without compromising service delivery,” he said.
“I know the chief is on the same page as that.”
Tempers flared earlier this week when the chief held a press conference disputing claims made in a leaked CPA memo, alleging the service intended to trim as many as 100 sworn officers from the city’s ranks.
“We’re simply going to need some more resources to help with the issues plaguing the city right now,” Chaffin told reporters Tuesday, attributing the CPA’s position to them misinterpreting his explanations of how a lean police budget would impact the city.
“There’s all sort of crime trends are problematic — our requirements in the community are so high right now.”
Sundberg says he understands both Chaffin’s and Kaminski’s positions, and stressed the need for delicacy in such discussions.
“It stresses people out,” Sundberg said. “But at the end of the day, something has to be done where we find efficiencies and more evidence-based effective approaches to crime reduction efforts.
“We need to think of new models.”
He takes exception to using statistics comparing police presence to population (“pop-to-cop ratio”) as a basis for setting police spending. He points to a 2016 Statistics Canada report on city police strength nationwide, which suggested the changing spectre of criminality and broadening of officer responsibilities means using crime rates to set police expenditures has lost its relevance.
There were 68,733 sworn officers in Canada last year — a strength of 190 officers per 100,000 residents and a one per cent decline from the previous year.
Calgary had 168 officers per 100,000 residents in 2016, down 1.1 per cent from the previous year — the second-lowest of the five municipalities in the report with populations over a million.
That’s compared to Peel Regional Police, serving the cities of Brampton and Mississauga, Ont., with a pop-to-cop ratio of 143 officers per 100,000.
York Regional Police, located immediately north of Toronto, has 140 officers per 100,000 — the only force out of the five that rose from 2015.
Topping the five is Montreal’s 229 officers per 100,000, followed by the 190 per 100,000 ratio attributed to the Toronto Police Service.
“I don’t think the officers to population numbers are of any concern for Calgary at this point,” he said. “It’s a weak indicator of our policing needs — I don’t think it should be relied upon too heavily for making decisions on policing spending.”
He says further study is needed to find these answers, beginning with the legislation that gives police their authority in Alberta.
“It starts with looking at the Police Act, and how we can change the way we do policing so it’s more efficient, effective, transparent and accountable, without compromising public safety and security,” he said.
“It would behoove whoever’s doing this to do a study — an evidence-based, empirical study that supports any decision making.”
Such a study, he said, could easily be undertaken right here in Calgary — but says finding a solution goes way further than simply putting more boots on the street.
“It’s way more complex than that,” he said.
“I’d be curious to see the statistics and studies that support such a policy move. The cost of policing is significant, but to just have this notion that we need more police, I don’t buy that — not without the data to back it up.”
At the end of the day, something has to be done where we find efficiencies and more evidencebased effective approaches to crime reduction efforts.