- Aug 6, 2012
- 28,944
- 25,784
- 2,405
A nation of "Good Little Germans" now has another report. Making changes to a corrupt system so entrenched is like pulling teeth. Noone trusts the OPP, CSIS or RCMP.
RCMP needs a big structural overhaul, says new report
It’s time for big changes to the RCMP, a new paper from a crime and national security academic argues.
Although “reboot” is the best way to describe the overhaul proposed by Christian Leuprecht, a professor with the Royal Military College, in a report published by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute appropriately titled “Force 2.0”.
Canada’s federal police have been plagued by front page challenges for years: Poor compensation and recruitment, internal sexual harassment allegations and the Mayerthorpe and Moncton shootings of officers, among others.
Tackling such issues piecemeal isn’t the way out, argues Leuprecht, who also works with Queen’s University and in Australia. Structural changes, at the top, are needed.
One of the most disruptive of the paper’s recommendations is to split RCMP operations and administration into what the author describes as a diarchy, installing a deputy minister to run the admin side and wield equal power with the Commissioner, who takes care of the policing.
The deputy minister and commissioner won’t be left to themselves though, they’d answer to another new body Leuprecht recommends: a Civilian Board of Management. It would, the author writes, ‘challenge and validate the priorities the Force has identified, liaise with the Minister and senior bureaucracy in a more systematic way, and validate the RCMP’s budgetary “asks.”’
These would be akin to the police service boards major cities use (although in this case Cabinet would still appoint the commissioner, not the board, as cities do).
This may resonate with citizens who believe police need additional oversight. But keep in mind that the RCMP will also soon be answering to a new national security committee of MPs. With all these layers, there’s risk the whole force gets bogged down in endless process reviews coming from all directions.
RCMP needs a big structural overhaul, says new report
It’s time for big changes to the RCMP, a new paper from a crime and national security academic argues.
Although “reboot” is the best way to describe the overhaul proposed by Christian Leuprecht, a professor with the Royal Military College, in a report published by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute appropriately titled “Force 2.0”.
Canada’s federal police have been plagued by front page challenges for years: Poor compensation and recruitment, internal sexual harassment allegations and the Mayerthorpe and Moncton shootings of officers, among others.
Tackling such issues piecemeal isn’t the way out, argues Leuprecht, who also works with Queen’s University and in Australia. Structural changes, at the top, are needed.
One of the most disruptive of the paper’s recommendations is to split RCMP operations and administration into what the author describes as a diarchy, installing a deputy minister to run the admin side and wield equal power with the Commissioner, who takes care of the policing.
The deputy minister and commissioner won’t be left to themselves though, they’d answer to another new body Leuprecht recommends: a Civilian Board of Management. It would, the author writes, ‘challenge and validate the priorities the Force has identified, liaise with the Minister and senior bureaucracy in a more systematic way, and validate the RCMP’s budgetary “asks.”’
These would be akin to the police service boards major cities use (although in this case Cabinet would still appoint the commissioner, not the board, as cities do).
This may resonate with citizens who believe police need additional oversight. But keep in mind that the RCMP will also soon be answering to a new national security committee of MPs. With all these layers, there’s risk the whole force gets bogged down in endless process reviews coming from all directions.
:origin()/pre04/9a5e/th/pre/i/2015/147/1/5/dudley_and_nell_by_darcat1530-d8uy0v6.jpg)
