Gazette - Policing outside of the cities

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

by Katherine Aldred

When the North West Mounted Police first marched west in 1874 to police the vast open land that is now Saskatchewan and Alberta, there was no such thing as urban policing. Today, even with more than 50 per cent of Canada’s population living in cities, the tradition of policing Canada’s remote landscapes and small communities continues.

The RCMP serves in about 200 isolated posts across the country. Many of these are found up North while others are located along the long stretches of rugged coastline and in the rural or remote regions of the interior. Policing in these communities is inherently different from urban policing and, in this issue, we look at what it’s really like to be posted in a smaller, isolated detachment where the closest neighbouring town could be hours away.

We begin with Gazette writer Caroline Ross’s cover article on policing the Canadian Arctic, an area that includes more than 150,000 kilometres of coastline. She looks at the increasing pressures on the North, where rising temperatures, melting sea ice and untapped oil and gas reserves make this region easier and more desirable to access — and also more challenging for police and their partners to secure.

Caroline also looks at the day-to-day realities of police work in isolated communities across Canada. Whether it’s in the island community of Bella Bella, B.C., where flying or boating in is the only option, or in the Arctic community of Coral Harbour, Nunavut, where dealing with ailing Ski-Doos and furnaces is part of general duty, officers in these posts face a range of challenges that their counterparts in larger cities likely don’t encounter.

We also provide an overview of the new RCMP backup policy and the strategies that small, isolated detachments have adopted to meet the requirements.

We hear from Dr. Barb Schmalz, an RCMP psychologist based in Calgary, who talks about the psychological side of working in isolated posts.

Ontario Provincial Police Insp Mark Allen looks at policing in the remote areas of Ontario and addresses the four big challenges that officers contend with outside that province’s urban centres. Police agencies outside of Canada face similar issues, and have developed their own policing solutions unique to their needs.

Cst Andrew Small of the Kent Police in England describes the role of Kent’s rural and environmental crime co-ordinator — a job tailored to the English countryside.

Dr. Judy Putt of the Australian Institute of Criminology looks at the increase in illicit substance abuse in remote areas of Australia and how police in that country have developed some
promising initiatives and strategies to tackle the problem.

Sarah Kennett of the New Zealand Police describes the problems police face in the harsh and remote Northland Region and some of the innovative programs they’ve created to deal with
these problems.

Finally, Jason B. Moats, author of Agroterrorism: a guide for first responders, spells out the logistical problems connected to a major agricultural incident and how police will be involved.

While policing in remote areas may seem like daunting, isolating work, there are plenty of positive aspects, too. We hope this issue provides a realistic balance of both the challenges and rewards these posts offer.