Image: New Brunswick RCMP/submitted
New Brunswick’s Department of Public Safety is set to review the province’s local and provincial policing models to improve services and safety.
Public Safety Minister Carl Urquhart says the review will consider opportunities for regional co-operation, other opportunities to provide centralized services and work to ensure specialized police services can be provided to communities equally.
“If there’s a major incident, will they be able to cover the cost of specialized units: dive teams, riot teams, forensic teams,” he said in an interview.
Urquhart says the review will help determine whether there’s an appropriate distribution of policing services and level of service if changes are recommended.
“I’ve got to know how that is being picked up by the other municipalities. Is it going to cut down policing in their area or will it improve it, or how will they financially be able to do it?”
Urquhart adds he’s noticed trends toward new models of policing and service.
“There are a lot of municipalities that are trending toward expansion,” he said.
“They want to look at different police forces, different ways of doing it, and there’s no real mechanism in place at the present time that will allow us to it.”
Urquhart says he has the expertise already within the Public Safety Department to do an effective review, adding nothing would need to be contracted out to other departments or any consultant.
The review is expected be be conducted and complete by the end of this year.
