Police need to embrace research and 21st century practices: Report

Canadian police need to draw upon international research to adapt to unprecedented challenges they face today and in the future, according to a new report from the Council of Canadian Academies. Entitled Policing Canada in the 21st Century: New Policing for New Challenges, the report contends that increased professionalism and evidenced-based policing would enable the police system as a whole to optimize its role through adaptation, interdependence and developing and applying the growing body of police and public safety knowledge.,

The 12-member expert panel charged with delivering the report — sponsored by Public Safety Canada and chaired by justice Stephen Goudge –— acknowledges that most of the research it examined came from US and UK sources due to the lack of Canadian research on policing.

The expert panel adopted the concept of a safety and security web to describe the context in which the police operate. It says the rising cost of policing, the role of police in an environment crowded with other public and private players and the emergence of new types of crimes necessitate increasing reliance upon resources, knowledge, and capabilities external to most police services.

The panel further notes that research gaps include the "coordination and clarification of policing roles and responsibilities in cross-jurisdictional federal and municipal policing activities such as drugs, the internet, and terrorism, and the problematic issue of establishing "national" policing standards and policies."

The report acknowledged that the diversified nature of Canadian policing makes system-wide change difficult, requiring the engagement of all stakeholders across governments and the police sector. It also examines the related issue of police accountability, citing lack of performance measures focused on outcomes or Canadian-based studies to "review the efficacy of police work, including within partnerships in the wider safety and security web".

With more evidence-based practices, Canadian-specific research and data on policing costs, Canadian police will be better able to break free from an "older reality" of organization and embrace new models to make 21st century policing more effective, efficient and aligned within the environment in which they operate, the report states.