Cooperation with School Board Concerning Simple Drug Possession (Details)

Name of province/ territory:

Quebec

City/ Region:

Repentigny

Description of Initiative:

All simple drug possessions in secondary schools are first handled by the school. Teachers or monitors seize the drugs. They store them in a safe to preserve the chain of evidence and then write a report (after coaching from our service). School management then contacts the youth officer assigned to the school, who will go retrieve the seized drugs and the reports from those involved when he/she goes to that school. The officer then writes his/her report and attaches the reports from the others involved.

Initiative Key Objectives:

Reduce the amount of travel and time normally spent by a patrol officer handling this kind of case.

Section Responsible for Implementation:

Socio-community

Key Contact:

Bruno Marier
marierb@ville.repentigny.qc.ca

Groups/ Agencies/ Key Partners Involved:

• other government departments/agencies

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

Cooperative

Amount of Time Initiative has been in Place:

Approximately 10 years (since 2002).

Reason for Undertaking the Initiative:

This initiative was started to address the time spent by patrol officers on numerous non-urgent cases.

Resources Required to Implement this Initiative:

N/A

Method of Implementation:

Phased in.

Key Outcomes of the Initiative:

Patrol officers do not travel for simple drug possessions at a school. This method is used for simple possession only. The arrest of the student is done by school staff, in most cases a monitor and/or security authority in the school or one of the administrators. The school employees fill out their own statements regarding the events. The socio-community police officer goes to the school to collect the drugs and the reports and completes the necessary reports to charge the student. The arrest is always done by two school employees for transparency.

Previously, two patrol officers showed up, performed the arrest, read the warning and rights. They wrote all the reports (statements, seizure, etc). So these officers had their time monopolized for a while. In addition, school board officials were uneasy with our presence at the school because of how it was perceived by other students.

Availability of a Communication Strategy:

No

Key Messages used to Publicize the Initiative:

N/A

Forms of Evaluation by which the Initiative will be Assessed:

• quantitative
• qualitative

Evaluation Completed or Community Feedback Received:

Yes

Summary of the Outcomes:

Better management of police time.

Summary of the Performance Measure Data Collected:

N/A

Economics of Policing Pillars:

• Efficiencies within Police Services
• New Models of Community Safety

Further Details:

Reduce the amount of travel and time spent on these calls. Strategic partnership with the school board.

Additional Comments or Suggestions:

The same technique is used at Sears, where the security guards themselves handle all the reports, arrest, search, etc. Police officers just take custody of the individual and release or detain him/her according to the situation.

Record Entry Date:

2013-08-01