New Brunswick Police Association calls on province to rethink policing

The New Brunswick provincial government recently injected $20.5 million in additional police officers, with the goal of increasing service to rural communities. The budget line is one of many in hopes of fixing the province’s police system

“We’re determined to break down these silos in policing,” said Kris Austin, the province’s public safety minister.

“So we’ve taken this year to go to these municipal police forces to make sure their services are up to par.”

He said in a committee meeting on Thursday that he’s hoping to use those standards by the municipal forces to help align other communities in their policing.

Austin said that he’s would be willing to work with communities who are trying to explore other options.

One of the communities which is looking for other options is the District of Carleton North, whose mayor told Global News that residents had told them they’re starting to feel unsafe in the community with the lack of RCMP presence.

That has prompted him to start talking to the province about alternatives.

“We want to go to the provincial government to talk about other options, whether it be a regional force or a regional municipal force,” told Mayor Andrew Harvey.

“The RCMP went to a regional model in which they looked at the whole region and the look at the whole Western Valley with a detachment in Woodstock, but it covers an area five times larger than Carleton North, with the same number of officers 12 years ago.”

He said that he suggested having a detachment in Carleton North and possibly having officers meet in school, which was rejected.

Visibility in the community has been on the mind of the New Brunswick Police Association.

Their labour analyst, Bob Davidson, told Global News that money from the provincial government wouldn’t fix the issue of policing, saying that the way the Mounties operate has to be talked to on a provincial-federal government level.

“It has nothing to do with the member, it has to do with the design. Throwing $20.5 million more into the RCMP pot will not change the design,” he said

“The province should be leading in creating these municipal police forces by virtue of helping with expertise, and if they want to put 20 million dollars on the table, that would go a long way in helping municipalities create these police regional forces.”

He said the provincial government would not have any say in how many of the new officers will be on the ground. He explained he’s heard from many municipalities that they’re not receiving the amount of service that they pay for.

“For example, in Hampton, they’re paying for X number of RCMP officers. Those RCMP officers could be in any LSD on a call even though they’re being paid by the town itself, and that’s the design.”

In a statement to Global News, the RCMP said that the increased funds would go towards boosted visibility and engagement in the community, claiming to be “the only law enforcement agency in the province to maintain a full complement of specialised policing services that meet national and provincial standards.”

The statement from Cpl. Hans Ouellette continues to read, “RCMP officers are working in our communities regularly. That includes daily patrols and local enforcement, but there’s also work going on that you don’t necessarily see by way of a marked police car — through proactive police work, crime reduction and prevention efforts, and crime analysis.”