Community Safety Constable Program (Details)

Name of province/ territory:

British Columbia

City/ Region:

Vancouver

Description of Initiative:

This program is under development and will begin in 2013. Historically, we have sworn police officers and civilian members, but some places (USA, etc.) have another classification of employee to respond to lower-complexity, lower-risk calls for service. This is premised on the "you don’t need a doctor to change a Band-Aid" idea. The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) believes that a different classification of peace officer can respond more efficiently to such calls for service than a fully trained and equipped police officer.

Traditionally, police officers are handling stolen and found property and taking on other low risk/expertise tasks that could be handled by this classification of peace officer. We are looking at having a mid-level person that would be sworn into a special constable role and would take low-level, lower-risk reports, guarding crime scenes and tagging property, etc. This will free-up frontline officers to use their training and skills to focus on higher-complexity, higher-risk emergencies and criminal calls for service. It would also create more time for VPD police officers to engage in proactive crime fighting and crime prevention activities. Citizens should also receive faster responses to their calls. It could also give us a recruitment pool for future police officers and a way to encourage applicants from Vancouver’s diverse communities (e.g., Aboriginal, English-as-a-second-language, etc.).

Initiative Key Objectives:

The objective is to create a team of peace officers who will wear distinct clothing that identifies them as VPD personnel, while differentiating them from regular police officers. They will support frontline operations, provide a visible presence in the community, and enhance the level of customer service provided to Vancouver residents, businesses and visitors. At the same time, they will allow our fully trained police officers to respond to emergency calls for service and criminal matters faster using their more advanced training and skills.

Section Responsible for Implementation:

Planning, Research and Audit

Key Contact:

Drazen Manojlovic
drazen.manojlovic.vpd.ca

Groups/ Agencies/ Key Partners Involved:

  • private agencies/corporations
  • civilian governing authorities
  • police association or union
  • other government departments/agencies

Level of Involvement (consultative - information sharing) and/or cooperative - direct involvement):

The Vancouver Police Union has been directly involved with regard to duties, working conditions and wages, etc. The Vancouver Police Board has already approved this project and Vancouver City Council has approved funding.

Amount of Time Initiative has been in Place:

We aim to implement this initiative by April 1, 2013.

Reason for Undertaking the Initiative:

The main reason for undertaking this initiative is to be more efficient and to provide better service to the citizens of Vancouver while more appropriately utilizing the training and skills of our police officers.

Resources Required to Implement this Initiative:

Set-up costs will include recruitment, training, equipment, cars and other staff-related costs. Our estimate for start-up costs is $475,000.

Method of Implementation:

We will start with a three-year pilot project with an ongoing assessment.

Key Outcomes of the Initiative:

N/A

Availability of a Communication Strategy:

Yes

Key Messages used to Publicize the Initiative:

The message has been that citizens can expect faster response times to calls such as found property, break and enter with no suspects, and property damage with no suspects. The personnel assigned to the Community Safety Program do not replace police officers; rather they supplement existing resources and allow police officers to focus on emergency and more complex duties, as well as crime-fighting.

Forms of Evaluation by which the Initiative will be Assessed:

  • internal
  • quantitative
  • qualitative

Evaluation Completed or Community Feedback Received:

No

Summary of the Outcomes:

The program starts in 2013.

Summary of the Performance Measure Data Collected:

N/A

Economics of Policing Pillars:

Further Details:

N/A

Additional Comments or Suggestions:

N/A

Record Entry Date:

2013-08-01

Date modified: