Some immodest proposals on federal policing

If today's RCMP is not what it should be, what to do? I can think of no other developed country (and probably no others of any size) that has a national police force responsible for the following types of law enforcement (I confess I don't know quite the jurisdiction of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary):

-municipal policing (Ontario and Quebec and many cities in other provinces excepted)

-rural policing (all provinces except Ontario and Quebec)

-All policing in the territories

-highway patrol (all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, and the RCMP also does this on federal roads in Ottawa)

-Organized crime (drugs etc.)

-National security (terrorism, espionage)

-Border policing

-White collar crime (sometimes, e.g. Karlheinz Schreiber).

I'm sure I missed a few things.

It seems to me that all provinces should provide their own municipal, rural, and highway policing, by the means of their own choice. There then should be separate federal law enforcement agencies to deal with, in cooperation with the forces in provinces and municipalities as required:

1) Serious organized crime and national security matters (there are many common techniques involved, and both rely greatly on intelligence)

2) Border, airport, and port policing (this function should be part of the Canada Border Services Agency--think Vancouver Airport; one service might have done better)

3) The territories

4) White collar crime (small and mainly civilian, that is to say lawyers)

5) VIP protection.

Mark C.

Damian adds: the RNC is responsible for law enforcement in St. John's, Corner Brook, Mount Pearl, Conception Bay South and Labrador City. The RCMP handles the rest of the province.

Posted by markc at November 29, 2007 12:58 PM