Summary
"Overall, ICURS found that the demand for police services has been increasing over the past ten years
through increases in non-criminal calls for policing, continuing increases in the legal complexity of
equitable handling of cases, the growing policing response to mental health and addiction needs, and
the increases in technical demands on services. While a range of changes to the way
policing ‘gets done’ in Canada are documented here, it is important to state at the outset, that it is the police and civilian
staff, at a local level, who must respond to an increasingly dynamic set of requirements and
expectations. Police agencies, large or small, urban, rural or remote, must adapt to increased pressure
in their daily work and are required to serve multiple, and at times, seemingly incongruent roles. These
pressures stem from internal and external forces, reflecting an evolving social and
economic context in our communities."--Page 1.
Contents
1. Introduction --
2. Research strategy --
3. The reported crime rate as a measure of work undertaken by police --
3.1. Closer examination of the crime drop --
3.2. Crime rates --
3.3. Expenditures, municipal --
3.4. Expenditures, provincial --
3.5. Expenditures, national --
3.6. Evolving calls For service --
3.6.1. More calls --
3.6.2. Vast and varied demands for their attention --
3.6.3. Acceptance of tasks from other Criminal Justice System (CJS) agencies --
3.6.4. Data entry --
3.6.5. Increased burden of less serious calls --
3.6.6. Technology, crime and investigations --
3.6.7. Mental health --
3.7. Investigative activities for selected crime types --
3.7.2. Length of time to complete tasks --
3.7.3. Community-based policing --
4. Conclusion --
5. Selected references.