New Brunswick to review local and provincial police services

The New Brunswick Department of Public Safety announced that it will review the province’s various police forces.

According to a release from the department, the review will take a look at how departments can better serve their communities as well as opportunities for greater regional cooperation.

“The safety of the public is our priority, and we work every day with police forces across our province to ensure New Brunswickers have access to the services they depend on,” said Public Safety Minister Carl Urquhart in the release.

“There is a trend towards looking at new models of policing, including regional collaboration. With more calls for new models of service, the Department of Public Safety will be reviewing how to ensure that there is an adequate level of service for all New Brunswickers and that costs are appropriately shared.”

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Deputy mayor of Quispamsis Libby O’Hara says the town welcomes the chance to look for ways to improve service.

“We have to look at what we are offering, not only as the community of Quispamsis, but also as the province of New Brunswick and how can our officers better serve their communities in order to give them the best service possible,” said O’Hara.

The Kennebecasis Regional Police Force that serves Quispamsis and Rothesay joins the Saint John Police Force and the RCMP that serves Grand Bay-Westfield as part of the patchwork of police services in the Greater Saint John Region.

Currently, the Kennebecasis regional and Saint John police forces have some framework for cooperation in place, but according to Const. Duane Squires of the New Brunswick Police Association, jurisdictional borders can sometimes get in the way.

“Criminals don’t have any boundaries, but the policing agencies do,” Squires said.

“We have different units that work together with other agencies and it’s almost a barrier. If we were all together under one roof, communication would work better, which would make us more efficient, I think, in policing.”

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But in O’Hara’s opinion, the biggest opportunity for regional cooperation lies to the east.