Editor: Just read an article in which a mayoral candidate in Surrey is wondering, with the large population that Surrey possesses, that maybe it is time to think about their own policing service, as opposed to continuing to contract with the RCMP.
I contend that considering past remarks by Mayor Derek Corrigan regarding the appropriateness of using the RCMP for municipal policing, with regards to the fact that the RCMP is a paramilitary organization and they are not trained for municipal policing, it stands to reason that maybe the time has come for Burnaby to join the big boys like Vancouver, New Westminster, Abbotsford and Delta, amongst others, by switching to our own municipal police service, instead of sticking with the RCMP.
A municipal police service would be accountable, financially and operationally, to our local politicians, whereas the RCMP are accountable to a bureaucracy in Ottawa.
It’s time to cast off the small village police service mentality and have our own police force that will get to know the local trouble spots, instead of having RCMP officers who are continually transferring in and out, and can be withdrawn by Ottawa, for all sorts of special assignments, across the country or abroad, in war zones, which is what they are trained to do.
I think it’s time this deserves to be explored, before the next election.
J. Wayne McQueen, Burnaby
