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Young people's voices detailing how they experienced engagement with the criminal justice system following child sexual abuse, what was helpful or unhelpful and how services can be improved to minimise secondary victimisation and maximise the potential for healing are largely absent from the research literature. This paper draws on semi‐structured interviews with a culturally diverse sample (n = 47) of young people aged 14 to 25 across Ireland and Canada about their experiences of disclosure and engagement with systems. Data were collected pertaining to experiences engaging with law enforcement personnel using thematic analysis with a trauma‐informed lens. The research identified three key themes: the importance of feeling safe through kindness, transparency and being believed; the importance of having a say; and the importance of timely court processes. The study builds on the small body of qualitative research illustrating young people's lived experiences of engaging with the criminal justice system and provides empirical support for promoting a trauma‐informed approach in how police engage with young people. Guidance is offered for police professionals on how to engage with adolescents following sexual abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police departments regularly conduct public opinion surveys to measure attitudes towards the police. The results of these surveys can be used to shape and evaluate policing policy and practice. Yet the extant evidence base is hampered when people use different methods and when there is no common data standard. In this paper we present a set of 13 core national indicators that can be used by police services across Canada to ensure measurement quality and draw proper comparisons between regions and over time. Having identified a set of 50 survey questions through an expert consultation process, we field those items on a quota sample of 2527 Canadians. Our analysis of the survey data has three stages. First, we use confirmatory factor analysis to assess scale properties. Second, we use substitution analysis to identify 13 single indicators that 'best stand in' for each scale. Third, we use the set of 50 and the sub-set of 13 measures to test procedural justice theory for the first time in the Canadian context. Overall, those commissioning and managing public attitudes surveys can use the 13 core indicators as a conceptually-rich and empirically-validated tool through which to understand local survey data in the context of other municipal, provincial, territorial and national contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In October 2018, Canada legalized recreational cannabis. Key goals of legalization included reducing access by minors and eliminating the illicit market. Now, three years into the legal regime, important public policy questions are beginning to emerge. With police being tasked to enforce the Cannabis Act and associated provincial/territorial legislation, there is a critical need to understand their experiences, including the successes they have had, challenges they have experienced, and issues that remain unresolved. This paper begins to address these issues by presenting results from a qualitative study involving law enforcement personnel who, through their primary roles and responsibilities, have been actively involved in overseeing cannabis enforcement (in supervisory roles) since legalization in October 2018. Three key findings emerged from the analyses, and all were tied to the overarching perception that the illicit cannabis market has persisted since legalization: 1) there is a small but significant pattern of abuse of the medical system of production and distribution, specifically tied to designated grower provisions; 2) there are many challenges associated with halting online sales of illicit cannabis; and 3) the issue of unregulated sales of cannabis from Indigenous reserves remains a "hot button" political issue, in need of resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police organisations in Canada and other parts of the world, have recently undertaken efforts to address misconduct arising from high-profile reports of internal discrimination and harassment and/or instances of excessive use of force. However, these actions tend to be pursued through traditional approaches without fully understanding the contextual factors that contribute to these harmful behaviours. Through a sequential, qualitative mixed-methods study involving Canadian police officers, this paper highlights how symbolic meanings attached to police work contribute to perceptions that the work is more suitable for some individuals than others. The findings also illustrate how officers respond to identity threats from stigmatised officers or from external sources. Finally, the findings suggest that the prototypical image of a police officer may be changing with recent criticisms of the police presented as possibilities for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns surrounding the use of force by police officers appear to be growing, fuelled by perceptions that the police use force too frequently, research showing that force is applied disproportionately to members of certain groups, and the view held by some that the mechanisms for holding police responsible for unjustified force are inadequate. In this paper, we advocate for the creation of a national use-of-force database in Canada to gain a better understanding of these issues, adding our voice to those who have already been actively calling for this. We describe some of the potential benefits that would be associated with such a database, including the fact that it would enhance police transparency and accountability, while also increasing our understanding of when and why force is used and what strategies may be useful for reducing inappropriate applications of force. We also highlight some of the challenges we think would be encountered, including mandating nationwide participation, overcoming resistance from the police community, establishing sensible case inclusion criteria, and standardizing data collection. While these are significant challenges, we believe not only that they are possible to overcome but that doing so will provide real value to Canadian society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era when reported hate crimes are increasing dramatically, it is troubling that there appears to be, at best, an uneven response to the problem from law enforcement in Canada. Our pilot study of policing hate crime in Ontario is the first attempt to understand whether and how law enforcement think about and act on hate crime. Interviews with officers in eight police forces across eastern and southern Ontario (N = 38) uncovered three clusters of factors that appear to shape how they manage hate crime: environmental, organizational, and individual. What we offer in this paper is a series of related recommendations for enhancing police responses to hate crime along each of the three dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research based in the US and Britain have established that perceptions of the police are particularly low among youth and racialized communities. However, by contrast, little is known about racialized youth perceptions of the police within Canada. Due to formal and informal bans on the collection of race-based data, Canada maintains its international reputation as a tolerant multicultural society. Using the critical race methodology of composite counter-storytelling, this paper will highlight the perspectives of Black and Indigenous youth and explore their experiences with law enforcement. This aims to counter Canada's international status as a multicultural utopia and demonstrate how legal criminal justice actors, such as the police, perpetuate the marginalized status of Black and Indigenous youth through the process of criminalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era when reported hate crimes are increasing dramatically, it is troubling that there appears to be, at best, an uneven response to the problem from law enforcement in Canada. Our pilot study of policing hate crime in Ontario is the first attempt to understand whether and how law enforcement think about and act on hate crime. Interviews with officers in eight police forces across eastern and southern Ontario (N = 38) uncovered three clusters of factors that appear to shape how they manage hate crime: environmental, organizational, and individual. What we offer in this paper is a series of related recommendations for enhancing police responses to hate crime along each of the three dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible Summary: What is known?: Police and mental health services benefit from meaningful service user engagement.Partnerships with organizations that are representative of community members—such as service users—are the most empowering model of collaboration. What this paper adds?: Describes how a service user organization can effectively advocate for change in the policing and mental health systems through both mutual collaboration and external pressure. Implications for practice?: Methods of creating change that can save lives through partnerships with service user organizations can be applied by service user organizations, police and mental health services.The methods described have the potential to reduce deaths and injury as a result of police action or mental healthcare practices [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media are transforming public communication and state-society relations, dynamics distinctly visible in the domains of policing and order maintenance. Despite growing research on this relationship, scholarship has adopted an internalist optic, privileging social media use by domestic law enforcement. Using an original data set, this paper broadens the scale of analysis to consider Twitter usage by federal agencies tasked with border security and migration policing in Australia, Canada, and the United States. Despite new technologies' transformational potential, its findings suggest Twitter is overwhelmingly employed for the conventional purposes of broadcasting information, managing impressions, and enlisting public assistance. Message themes linked with greater user responsiveness are also identified. The deeper implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, in Canadian policing research, unprecedented opportunities exist for university-based researchers to investigate various research questions with cooperation from police leadership. Given complexities in contemporary policing, it is recognized that transformational changes require contributions from external knowledge and scientific research – in furtherance of the movement toward evidence-based practices. This paper incorporates data originating from interviews with 20 Canadian police commanders and 20 Canadian policing research academics. It is clear that the majority of this study’s participants realize that more cooperative research arrangements are required to resolve long-standing issues around access, trust, and control of the research agenda. For academics, however, this does not extend to a policing research institute model for Canada (similar to that of the Scottish Institute for Police Research). In addressing these issues, this paper informs, and provides empirical context to, on-going international discussions across policing research and police communities – vis-à-vis ending the ‘dialogue of the deaf’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an inter-agency practice integrated within a police intervention model which was developed for police officers and their partners in Montréal.Design/methodology/approach The Integrated Police Response for Abused Seniors (IPRAS) action research project (2013-2016) developed, tested, and implemented a police intervention model to counter elder abuse. Two linked phases of data collection were carried out: a diagnostic of police practices and needs (year 1) and an evaluation of the implementation of the intervention model and the resulting effects (years 2 and 3).Findings The facilitating elements to support police involvement in inter-agency practices include implementing a coordination structure regarding abuse cases as well as designating clear guidelines of the roles of both the police and their partners. The critical challenges involve staff turnover, time management and the exchange of information. It was recognised by all involved that it is crucial to collaborate while prioritising resource investment and governmental support, with regards to policy and financing, as well as adequate training.Practical implications The IPRAS model is transferable because its components can be adapted and implemented according to different police services. A guideline for implementing the model is available.Originality/value In the scientific literature, inter-agency collaboration is highly recommended but only a few models have been evaluated. This paper presents an inter-agency approach embedded in an evaluated police intervention model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the contemporary moment of Black revolt and the struggle to defund and abolish police in Canada and North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines police militarization in Canada between 2007 and 2017. We contrast media and police accounts of militarization with special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team deployment records disclosed under freedom of information (FOI) law. Discourse analysis reveals a series of armoured vehicle purchases has been justified by police claims about the danger faced by police officers, and the need to keep police officers and the public safe. Media and police accounts thus suggest militarization is limited. However, our FOI research shows planned and unplanned deployment of SWAT teams have risen in major Canadian cities and are higher in some cases than those reported by Kraska on public police militarization in the USA. After revealing this juxtaposition between media rhetoric and the organization and operational reality of police militarization, we reflect on the implications of police militarization in Canada and the challenges that police may face in communications about armoured vehicle purchases as public awareness of SWAT team use rises and police legitimacy is questioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the authors discuss the importance of replication and reproduction studies to building an evidence base in policing research. This evidence base, they note, is important to the task of informing sound policy and practice in policing and in relation to community safety efforts more generally. Despite the recognized value of such work, a scoping analysis of peer-reviewed Canadian policing research published over the past 10 years reveals that very few researchers engage in research aimed at replicating other studies. Potential remedies are suggested in the paper's conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian government recently sanctioned a supervised consumption site (SCS) that is currently in Vancouver, British Columbia. The government is open to sanctioning more sites across the country; however, by law the federal health minister must consider whether such facilities are supported by local governments representing the cities where the sites are proposed to be located. Until 2016, the government of Canada's largest city, Toronto, did not support SCSs. Drawing on Lenton cannabis policy research, this study analyses government documents, policy papers, scientific reports, and newspaper articles and secondary literature to identify some of the significant barriers that minimised the likelihood that Toronto's council would support SCSs between 2003 and 2016. The report compares conditions in Toronto to those of Vancouver where SCSs have enjoyed council support since 2001. This study find that three conditions play an important role in explaining why SCSs were supported in Vancouver 14 years before they were endorsed in Toronto: (1) Strong public support; (2) Favourable electoral conditions; and (3) Law enforcement support. Changes in Toronto surrounding these conditions help explain why its council endorsed SCSs in 2016. This study concludes that Lenton's research holds utility as a socio-legal theory of municipal drug policy change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore determining factors that account for variation in public satisfaction with the local police in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Design/methodology/approach – An integrated method was used to gather the data for this study, including official survey data conducted by Insightrix, and interviews with citizens in Saskatoon. Findings – This research found that demographic factors including age, race (in this study, Aboriginal status in particular), education, and income, perception of neighborhood safety, citizen-police interaction, and learning about crime from news media all have impact on public attitudes toward the police, to different degrees. The gap or distance between the police and the Aboriginal community was highlighted as a major factor. Research limitations/implications – Further research should be done to compare statistical patterns in other same-level cities in Canada. Practical implications – This paper indicates that Saskatoon Police Service in the future should provide a more structured avenue for citizen participation in establishing safe neighborhoods, more structured cultural sensitivity training, and create a wider channel through which community residents with various social backgrounds can demand some measure of accountability for police work in their area. Originality/value – The paper is of value to law enforcement policy-makers and academic researchers with interest in policing and police-community relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a lexical shift in policing terminology from ‘crime prevention’ to ‘crime reduction.’ Still, the overarching goals continue to include addressing crime and disorder and providing public protection. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has developed specialized crime reduction units (CRUs) as one strategy to achieve these objectives; however, there has been limited research on these units’ mandates and crime reduction strategies in a Canadian policing context. This paper presents the findings of qualitative interviews and descriptive statistics collected from one RCMP CRU to examine how the Unit’s officers articulated the specific tasks established in their mandate and whether their policing activities reflected the mandate’s distinctive objectives. Results suggest that communication and human resource challenges led to officers’ tentativeness in expressing their Unit’s mandate and the teams’ restricted use of analytical tools, respectively. This research has implications for policing agencies seeking to develop specialized CRUs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the attitudes of Canadian college students' towards the utilization of British restorative justice techniques in everyday policing. In-depth interviews were conducted with two academics from Humber College as well as two professionals in the criminal justice field in the United Kingdom. A sample of 188 students from justice and policing related programs in Humber College were selected to explore students' attitudes towards the British module of restorative justice. Overall students showed positive attitude towards restorative justice (x̄ = 18.09/25; SD = 2.80). The study also shows a significant difference between programs (f = 7.93, p =.000) in their views towards the utilization of British restorative justice techniques in policing. The Community Justice students scored the highest on the scale (x̄ = 19.28/25; SD = 2.86) while the Police Foundations students scored the lowest (x̄ = 17.36/25; SD = 2.61). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore institutional realities and public perceptions of police use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Canada in relation to each other, drawing attention to areas of public misunderstanding and concern.Design/methodology/approach Public perceptions data are drawn from a national survey (n=3,045) of UAV use. Institutional realities data are drawn from content analyses of all Special Flight Operation Certificates issued by Transport Canada from 2007 to 2012 and flight logs of a regional service kept from 2011 to 2013. Officer interviews (n=2) also provide qualitative insights on institutional realities from this same regional service.Findings The data reveal disparities between institutional realities and public perceptions. Although federal, provincial and regional services currently use UAVs, awareness of police use of UAVs relative to traditionally piloted aircraft was low. Further, support for police use of UAVs was significantly lower than traditionally piloted craft; but, support also varied considerably across UAV applications, with the greatest opposition tied to tasks for which police do not report using UAVs and the greatest support tied to tasks for which police report using UAVs.Originality/value This research provides previously unknown descriptive data on the institutional realities of police use of UAVs in Canada, positioning that knowledge in relation to public perceptions of police use of the technology. The findings raise concerns over how UAVs may negatively shape police/civilian relations based on procedural justice literature which demonstrates that a lack of public support for the technology may affect the police more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By examining the police's use of tasers in Canada, this paper attempts to gain some purchase on non-lethal policing: social relations created through non-lethal weapons (NLWs) and modes of force that get under the skin without breaking it. This paper maps out how discourses of "less" lethality, the Braidwood commission's recommendations, military NLW strategy and closed notions of community coalesce within Canada's national-security regime to authorize the use of non-lethal force while at the same time obfuscating the taser's non-lethal capacities, which cause people to fall down and their bodies to leak in unprecedented ways. In closing, this essay outlines what I call a non-containerizing politics of touch that challenges this national-security regime and allows new frameworks for using tasers to develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores police stop and search activities in Canada using data from a 2007 survey of Toronto residents. The paper begins by demonstrating that black respondents are more likely to view racial profiling as a major problem in Canada than whites or Asians. By contrast, white and Asian respondents are more likely to believe that profiling is a useful crime-fighting tool. Further analysis reveals that the black community's concern with racial profiling may be justified. Indeed, black respondents are much more likely to report being stopped and searched by the police over the past two years than respondents from other racial backgrounds. Blacks are also much more likely to report vicarious experiences with racial profiling. Importantly, racial differences in police stop and search experiences remain statistically significant after controlling for other relevant factors. The theoretical implications of these findings – and their meaning within Canada's multicultural framework – are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The deployment of civilian police in UN peacekeeping operations represents a significant commitment for many police organisations, especially in decentralised political systems such as Canada where municipal and provincial police services are involved. While these missions attract large numbers of highly motivated officers, their selection, deployment and return are fraught with organisational challenges that are underestimated or ignored by the contributing agencies. In this paper, we will examine these challenges as they are experienced and resolved by three large Canadian police organisations, through a number of qualitative interviews conducted with former police peacekeepers and their managers. We argue in this paper that the deployment and reintegration stages of a police peacekeeping mission should be included in the assessment of its success, and that unless contributing police organisations find ways to improve the experience of their returning officers, the sustainability of UN police peacekeeping deployments could become problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Some police research has used quantitative methods of typology construction in attitudinal data to explore the spatial structure of occupational culture, suggesting distinctions among officer-types may be empirically useful. The purpose of this paper is to suggest scale construction as a complimentary approach, using original data collected from a multi-national sample. Cultural structure is examined here in terms of the spatial relationship among variables rather than respondents. Cultural homogeneity is understood principally as the relative congruence of attitudinal constructs across national groups. Where common constructive dimensions are evident, meaningful analysis of attitudinal valence is then possible. Design/methodology/approach - Data-measuring attitudes in several facets of occupational outlook were collected from police in Canada, India, and Japan. Factor analysis was used to identify latent structures among question items in 11 inventories in the aggregate set and then again in each national sample. Factor solutions were then compared for congruence across the three nations and against the aggregate result. Scores from congruent factors were analyzed using ANCOVA. Findings - The findings suggest an appreciable universality to factor structures in the inventories and samples examined here. Congruence across attitudinal constructs appears to break down in those aspects of occupational outlook that are most personal and most impersonal to the officer. Originality/value - The paper offers a complimentary approach to existing quantitative methods in probing sameness and difference in police culture by focusing upon the constructive meanings of attitudinal measurements as expressive of the conceptual dimensionality of attitudinal space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we attempt to shed light on police leadership by telling the story of leadership at a particular Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) detachment. The case study is based upon interviews with 28 police officers and participant observations at the case site. The frame-work provided by transformational leadership theory proved meaningful in describing police leadership within a convenient heuristic comprised of four I's: individualised consideration, idealised influence, inspirational motivation, and intellectual stimulation. We concluded that transformational leaders have particular relational strengths that serve to elevate levels of commitment, work satisfaction, and motivation. The paper also points out that transformational leaders turn constraints into opportunities in the pursuit of their shared vision. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the contribution certain large Canadian cities may make to the over-representation of aboriginal people in the criminal justice system. The nine cities under study are large urban areas known in Statistics Canada terms as Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA's). The cities are located in eight provinces, and represent Western, Prairie, Eastern and Atlantic Canada. For the analyses, a variety of Statistics Canada and Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) data, as well as Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) and Correctional Services Canada (CSC) data on aboriginal offenders and over-representation and other aboriginal criminal justice research, were analysed. The paper explores a number of theoretical concepts such as social disorganization, social learning theory, and posits others to understand the urban reality for aboriginal populations and, from that, regional variation in over-representation. Prairie cities appear to contribute disproportionately to the over-representation problem and advantage and disadvantage are disproportionately distributed in urban centres across the country. The nine cities are grouped into high, medium and low “contribution to over-representation” cities based on the demographics of their aboriginal populations. The paper suggests that more research is required to understand how advantage and disadvantage are bestowed on reserve and, by implication, on urban aboriginal populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirically driven paper explores police presentational strategies on popular micro-blogging social media site Twitter. A total of 105,801 tweets from Canadian Toronto Police Service Twitter accounts were examined using qualitative document analysis. Thematic issues associated withpolice professionalismandcommunity policingare identified. A finding that runs throughout each thematic includes official police officer use of Twitterwhile off duty. A basic argument advanced herein is that official off duty use of Twitter delineates the individual officer from the policing institutionbut does so in an official capacity, a presentational strategy that diminishes the appearance of authoritarian relations traditionally associated with police. Suggestions for future research are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently in Canada the issue of police encounters among persons living with a mental health issue has received considerable public attention; however, the focus has been primarily on the experiences of adults and not of children and youth. In this paper, we explore police encounters in child and youth mental health by presenting the outcomes of 14 qualitative interviews conducted with seven caregivers and seven siblings and two focus groups conducted with eight caregivers about their experiences of having a child/sibling, 13–21 years old, living with a mental health issue. There were two main themes identified: (1) the need for police support to deescalate a high conflict situation involving a distressed child/sibling, and (2) the stigmatisation and criminalisation of the distressed child, parents and families. Based on these outcomes, a model of support is proposed whereby parents would be provided with crisis intervention training informed by an understanding of the stigma of mental illness as a structural condition of their personal experiences. Such training could provide caregivers with support for identifying and responding to crisis and for developing safety plans that may or may not involve police, but could minimise and/or divert the need for their involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the work of the SPCUM as it tackles the on-going street gang issue in Montreal. The paper is divided into six sections, beginning with a brief description of the nature of the study and the methodology used. The second section presents the theoretical framework and the main concepts employed, namely "racialization" and the "typification/ stereotype dilemma." Section III presents the police definition of street gangs and a short history of the phenomenon. Section IV analyzes the racialization process and the significance of ethnicity for understanding street gangs, discusses "multi-ethnic" and "Quebecois" gangs, and goes on to examine the typification/stereotype dilemma faced by Montreal police officers. Police intervention strategies are outlined in section V, and finally, the paper concludes with section VI, highlighting some of the important daily challenges facing police in a multi-racial/ multi-ethnic urban centre like Montreal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This discussion paper on policing has been the most widely distributed product of a broader initiative undertaken by the Ministry of the Solicitor General of Canada under the direction of AndréNormandeau of the Criminology Department of the University of Montréal and Barry Leighton of the Ministry Secretariat. Its purpose has been to review current trends and likely future directions for policing in Canada. The paper is the synthesis of consultations and background reviews of issues the results of which were presented in a national workshop held in October 1990. The purpose of this exercise was strategic in nature and in its authors' words, aims to provide a single coherent view of policing in Canada as it is likely to evolve over the next decade. This view is that of community-based policing. The authors claim that community-based policing is the object of growing consensus and that, furthermore, there exist no competing views if policing. Policing approaches of the past, identified in the document only as professional policing, are relegated to the position of historical artifacts. Professional policing is viewed by the authors as no more than a momentary hiatus in the history of policing strategies which, with the advent of modern community-based policing, return to their original and purer conception.

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to compare the community level factors associated with police strength and operational costs in Aboriginal police services from four different geographic zones, including remote communities inaccessible by road[1]. Design/methodology/approach -- Analysis of variance was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in per capita policing costs, the officer to resident ratio, an index of community well-being and crime severity in 236 rural and remote Canadian communities. Findings -- The authors found that places that were geographically inaccessible or further from urban areas had rates of police-reported crime several times the national average and low levels of community well-being. Consistent with those results, the per capita costs of policing were many times greater than the national average, in part due to higher officer to resident ratios. Research limitations/implications -- These results are from rural Canada and might not be generalizable to other nations. Practical implications -- Given the complex needs of these communities, these findings reinforce the importance of delivering full-time professional police services in rural and remote communities. Short duration or temporary postings may reduce police legitimacy as residents may perceive that their rural or Aboriginal status makes them less valued than city dwellers. As a result, agencies should prioritize the retention of experienced officers in these communities. Originality/value -- These findings validate the observations of officers about the challenges that must be overcome in policing these distinctive communities. This information can be used to inform future studies of rural and remote policing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Given the increasing number of interactions between police and people with mental illnesses (PMI), there has been widespread interest in the development of education for police about how best to interact with PMI. This paper reflects the review of current practice in a variety of jurisdictions across Canada as well as in the United States (U.S.), the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Australia; it proposes a comprehensive model of learning based on the literature that addresses not only the content in the narrow sense but also the importance of broader contextual knowledge and understanding in developing effective education and training. Embedded in the principles articulated in the Mental Health Strategy for Canada, the TEMPO (Training and Education about Mental illness for Police Organizations) model is a multilevel learning strategy for Canadian police personnel. Learning objectives and key principles are articulated in order to ensure the model is applicable to a wide range of police agencies and individual jurisdictional needs. In addition to providing a firm basis of factual knowledge for police personnel, the resultant model embraces a human rights/anti-stigma philosophy, provides for a range of education appropriate to diverse police audiences, emphasizes a systems approach to police/mental health liaison activities and addresses issues related to the delivery and implementation of police education and training. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

According to procedural justice theory, a central factor shaping perceptions about authority figures and dispute resolution processes is whether an individual believes they were treated justly and fairly during personal encounters with agents of authority. This paper describes findings from a community-based participatory research study examining perceptions of procedural justice among sixty people with mental illness regarding their interactions with police. The degree to which these perceptions were associated with selected individual (e.g., socio-demographic characteristics), contextual (e.g., neighborhood, past experiences), and interactional (e.g., actions of the officer) factors was explored. The results of regression analyses indicate that the behavior of police officers during the interactions appears to be the key to whether or not these interactions are perceived by people with mental illness as being procedurally just. Implications of these findings for improving interactions between the police and people with mental illness are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the RCMP's ' Mr. Big' undercover investigation technique, which involves the use of undercover officers posing as high-ranking members of a criminal organization. These officers befriend a target (the suspect) and promise the suspect that their leader ( Mr. Big) can help the target in several ways; in exchange, the officers demand that the suspect truthfully reveal past criminal activity to establish credibility and protect the organization against surprises. There appears to be little interest on the part of state actors, other than the courts, in reducing police independence and providing more accountability and oversight for Mr. Big and other undercover operations. Yet, as parts of Canada's criminal justice system, such operations deserve scrutiny because of their cost and potential for wrongful convictions. This article calls for oversight of the police by several actors, including legislators providing guidelines for police investigations, closer judicial scrutiny and executive oversight of police operations, and improved police training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a consensus that some racial groups are over-represented in their contact with the Canadian justice system, but a lack of agreement about possible reasons for this over-representation. The two dominant explanations for disproportionate minority contact (DMC) with the police are differential involvement in crime and differential treatment by the police. Differential treatment may be due to disproportionate possession by minorities of risk factors for police contact or to discriminatory policing. This paper uses data on self-reported delinquency and police contacts from a representative sample of Canadian youth aged 12 to 17 years from the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth to test the hypotheses that DMC is due to differential involvement or to differential treatment due to disproportionate risk factors. The results indicate that there was disproportionate minority contact with the police, but no support was found for explanations of DMC in terms of either differential involvement or differential treatment due to risk factors. Distinguishing between youth who report violent delinquency and all other youth, DMC was found only for the non-violent youth; this DMC was also not explained by differential treatment due to risk factors. By eliminating other explanations, the results suggest that racially discriminatory policing may be one explanation for DMC in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the initial steps of the judicial process for persons with intellectual disabilities who are suspected of a minor offense; a stage where plaintiffs, police officers, and crown attorneys make a series of decisions that will have a significant impact on the course of the judicial process. The objective of this study was twofold: (i) to document the criteria that influence dispositions by police officers and crown attorneys about persons with intellectual disabilities in the criminal justice system (CJS), (ii) to report suggested improvements to better support them throughout the judicial process. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants from the CJS and from service and community organisations working in the field of intellectual disabilities. The results of this qualitative study indicate that decisions made and dispositions taken rely on a series of implicit criteria that influence the course of the subsequent judicial procedures against persons with an intellectual disability. Suggestions for improvement pertain to developing the screening of intellectual disability procedures, the provision of information to key actors about intellectual disabilities, a preference for the use of summons to appear over other types of procedures, and drafting memorandums of understanding between various organisations and police services regarding persons with intellectual disabilities. In conclusion, an emphasis must be put on screening and diversion procedures for persons with intellectual disabilities when appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine a police summer program for youth from marginalized communities designed to both provide valuable experiences and opportunities as well as improve the problematic relationship between marginalized youth and police. Using the concepts of racialization, governance, and interest-convergence, we consider how such institutionally sponsored programs socialize youth into a value system that fosters self-governance and restraint, particularly in the case of youth who, because of where they live, are considered to be "at risk." Hence, they are subjected to interventions that operate in subtle ways to regulate them into what are deemed appropriate values and beliefs. We found that after six weeks of working with the police, the attitudes of the youth changed from avoidance to enthusiastic endorsements of police practices. In this way, the program worked to advance the institutional interests of the police without the organization having to confront or adjust any of its own practices and assumptions. Ultimately, the program, with its focus on attitudes, behaviour, and opportunity, promotes and achieves the kind of reform that never questions structural and systemic inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), an iconic and highly respected Canadian institution, has come under extreme criticism in recent years, leaving its future existence in question. This paper reviews the pivotal problems that led the RCMP to this state of crisis, using four recent scandals that have particularly eroded its reputation to illustrate. It suggests that signs of the malaise have been present for some time, but downplayed or missed due to the RCMP's stellar reputation. The authors bolster their contention with data collected a number of years ago demonstrating that a sample of 129 RCMP constables perceived themselves to be less in control, to have less workplace social support, and experienced greater levels of psychological distress than a control group of 60 municipal constables. They conclude that the RCMP will have to undertake immediate and significant reform to regain its respected role in Canadian society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important issue facing Canadians today is crime control and prevention. Research done in the late 1980s and early 1990s by three sociologists shows that Canadian federal criminal justice policies and practices adopted by the Mulroney government from 1984 to 1990 were inconsistent with US 'law and order' models in place at that time. However, since the mid-1990s, Canadian federal and provincial governments have mimicked some US authoritarian and gender-blind means of curbing crime. The main objective of this paper is to provide some key examples of criminal justice policy transfer from the USA in Canada. At first glance, Canada may appear to be a 'kinder, gentler nation,' but not to the extent assumed by many, if not most, outside observers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decision to have dedicated youth officers is not an easy option for many police agencies due to financial and human resource constraints. Yet, very little research examines whether specialization impacts police discretion. Using statistical and interview data, this paper explores differences in police decision-making with apprehended youth in Canada. The data suggest that specialized agencies are more likely to use referrals to external agencies and pre-charge diversion, are less likely to charge a youth, are more likely to detain a youth once charged, and consider situational factors pertaining to the youth and that particular offense when using their discretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that the adoption and integration of new technologies in professional environments and daily lives depend less on their objective characteristics and "real" performance than on representations and hopes built into those technologies. This paper will focus on DNA technology and the meanings and expectations invested into it by actors who participated in the debate surrounding two bills on DNA identification in Canada. Through this process, we will uncover the symbolic conditions that allowed for the introduction of the National DNA Databank as a crime-fighting tool: first, the minimization of the power of the substance and the idealization of the DNA databank potentialities; second, the scientification and professionalization of the police through DNA; and third, the reconciliation of Canada's two identities, that of the criminal justice innovator and human rights defender. Those are some of the key symbolic elements that made the creation and expansion of the DNA databank possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of this article is police reform in North America. The article is divided in two parts. The first part reviews the recent past with respect to reforming the police in Canada. I examine the case of the reform of the Montreal police, which tried to implement an approach modelled on COP-POP principles. The reform process lasted for some 18 years and covers two periods. From 1987 to 1993, the service tried unsuccessfully to reform the mentalities of its officers, without changing the structures of the force. From 1994 until today, it introduced significant changes in its structures but was forced after 2002 to reestablish many of the structures it had abolished. The reform suffered from s split of leadership between police and civilians and produced a divorce between the uniformed patrol and plainclothes criminal investigation. In the second part of the paper, I assess the impact on the polite reform movement of the moral panic generated by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I argue that very deep budgetary cuts in the US, a new reliance on physical coercion and outsourcing to the private sector may bring the COP-POP reform movement to a standstill. I conclude that current developments in policing are deepening the gap between security and justice in policing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Neo-liberal policies have had a profound effect on the organization of policing in Canada by rationalizing provincial and federal initiatives that off-load policing costs to municipal and regional councils. This paper aims to comparatively analyze the effect of these initiatives on service delivery for regional versus non-regional police services. Design/methodology/approach - Four measures were used to assess efficiency: per capita cost, cost per criminal code offence, number of officers per 100,000 population, and number of support staff per 100,000 population. Three measures were used to assess effectiveness: violent crime clearance rate, property crime clearance rate, and total criminal code clearance rate. Findings - Analysis of the data reveals that, despite claims surrounding regionalization, regional police services are not demonstrably any more effective or efficient than non-regional services. Research limitations/implications - Utilizes official crime data and police expenditure statistics. A national survey of police service delivery and citizen satisfaction is needed. Practical implications - These results can inform municipal and town council decisions about regional (or provincial contract) versus local police service provision. Originality/value - The first comprehensive comparative Canadian study on the efficiency and effectiveness of police regionalization. The article empirically challenges the purported relative effectiveness and efficiency of larger regional police services versus smaller non-regional services in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses nine years of youth court data to understand two different trends: increases in the proportion of youth court cases (found guilty) involving girls and few changes in the rate of finding girls guilty in youth court. It appears that the increased proportion of cases involving girls (found guilty) is due more to a decrease in the rate of finding boys guilty than to an increase in finding girls guilty. Thus, in understanding trends in the use of youth court, explanations should explore why it is that the rates for girls are relatively stable whereas the rates for boys, for property offences in particular, are decreasing. An explanation that assumes that rates of offending (or apprehension, or imposition of guilty findings) are increasing for girls will not, we suggest, fit the existing data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years the Canadian criminal justice system has been plagued by a number of high profile wrongful convictions. While each of these cases has raised serious questions concerning the justice process as a whole, particular attention has been directed towards the police and their ability to satisfy their dual mandate of investigating crime while protecting the interests, rights, and freedoms of the accused. One notable aspect of police operations that has come under increasing scrutiny in this regard is the police interrogation, a practice which is both upheld by police officers as a crucial means of gathering information and disposing of cases, and denounced by civil rights advocates as a serious threat to the standards of fairness and due process. In adopting the police interrogation as its object of study, this paper will argue that each of these characterizations are severely limited, and ultimately, misrepresentative of the more subtle functions of interrogative practices. Specifically, drawing upon the research literature in Britain, the United States, and Canada, the police interrogation will be conceptualized as an interactional medium in which commitments are fashioned to particular criminal identities and renditions of events in a manner that seeks to confirm and legitimate official police narratives. The implications of this constitutive, rather than merely coercive, function of the interrogation will be examined with particular attention to the issues of police accountability, and the limits of legislative reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to contribute to an understanding of networks of governance beyond the state through an examination of the programs of one of the institutions of security within the University of Toronto, Ontario, the Personal Safety Awareness Office (PSAO). The analysis is aimed at exploring the ways in which three themes that have been identified in the literature as crucial features of contemporary governance--a focus on community, local responsibility, and a risk mentality--operate outside of established state structures. The analysis is based on two sources of data. The first source of data is comprised of lengthy discussions with the person who established and was responsible for running the PSAO for the six years of its existence. Secondly, the authors conducted an examination of PSAO files. As both of these data sources provide limited and filtered access to what really happened, the accounts provided both in the interviews and through the case files were analyzed for evidence of the nature of the programs for governing security the PSAO sought to realize. The authors use these programs to illustrate the sort of strategies for governing security that are emerging outside of police organizations.

This paper examines the precipitous drop in crime rates in Edmonton reported over the past two years. Previous analysis shows that the major reasons for changes in crime rates include: reduction in the numbers of the at-risk population: deterioration in the social and economic climate: changes in laws; alterations in access to police; and changes in the proactive nature of policing. The results of analysis of data drawn from official files and community surveys from one city indicate that the drop in crime rates are a function of declines in property crime reporting: administrative decisions taken to alter the access to police resources for the public; and a shift towards community policing with an emphasis on problem solving and crime prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Royal Commission Of Inquiry Into The Donald Marshall, Jr. Prosecution has stimulated academic reflection and policy initiatives. Hegemonic discursive appropriation has made it structurally inevitable that Inquiry, rather than minority, relevances would have greater resonance in the Inquiry process. Thus, the overall discursive effect of the Marshall Inquiry has been delineation of blame and recommendations for remediation in hegemonic terms. However, Inquiry testimony may be 'read' differently. Persistence and vitality of Mi'kmaq culture in the face of systemic social exclusion are also borne by Inquiry testimony. This paper celebrates Mi'kmaq tribalism and decries the existence and persistence of systemic racism which are expressed in the 'trial in which no one goes to jail'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the organizational demands of the native policing environment are examined to analyze their effects on native policing arrangements and the constraints and linkages that govern innovation and reform at the levels of policy and program development. It is argued that, as environmental conditions vary and change, current methods of organizing and delivering native police services will become increasingly problematic. Some of the key principles and issues that underlie policing models are discussed and examined in the native context. It is concluded that a community-based approach to policing is a promising strategy that may uniquely serve the interests and requirements of particular native communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the findings of a study of five years of Amerindian police occurrence reports. It examines the role of the police on twenty-five reserves in Quebec including police/population ratios and the service activities of police. It also examines crime rates and offender, offence, charging, and disposition characteristics of the cases. It concludes that community variation exists along a number of dimensions but that the role of police is similar in the provision of service. Charging and dispositions appear more severe than elsewhere but, without better information on prior record and how files are opened, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]