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Police need to keep up with evolving technology, connect more closely with the communities they serve, and target individual offenders in new ways to tackle gangs and gun violence, a policing conference in Edmonton heard Tuesday.
On the second day of the inaugural Safety of Our Cities Conference, hosted by the Edmonton Police Service, a panel of law enforcement leaders from the U.S. and Canada spoke about what they’re doing, and what needs to be done to address the public safety issue.
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Toronto Police Service Staff Supt. Pauline Gray said a common challenge, across the country, is bail reform and keeping violent offenders in custody before trial.
“We’re dealing with a very small percentage of folks here. We’re not talking about hundreds and thousands of people — we’re talking about a very small percentage who need to be laser focused on,” said Gray.
The moderator, Edmonton police Deputy Chief Devin Laforce, agreed that “bail reform is on everybody’s radar.”
The conversation comes after the House of Commons in Ottawa unanimously agreed to fast-track the Liberal government’s bail reform bill Monday, sending it to the Senate. Bill C-48 would make it more difficult for some accused of violent crimes to be released while awaiting trial.
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, the provincial UCP government, and many police chiefs across the country have been among those pushing for the bill’s changes but critics say it may do little to curb violent crime in the long term. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association warned against it Tuesday.
“In its present form, Bill C-48 is constitutionally deficient and will undermine the Charter rights of people in Canada,” director of criminal justice Shakir Rahim said in a news release.
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Dallas police Chief Eddie Garcia, the keynote speaker at the conference, told reporters bail issues are a concern for departments across the U.S. and Canada.
“We don’t get to say we take gun crime seriously while we have these individuals back on the street without the accountability piece so soon after our men and women risked their lives to take them off the street. So yes, it’s a major issue,” he said.
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During Tuesday’s panel focused on guns and gangs, Insp. Phil Heard from the Vancouver Police Department said police need to target a small number of individuals who are “doing the most harm in our community,” adding it’s important to look at what fuels organized crime and go beyond criminal sanctions.
“Leveraging the civil court system to target and seize their assets really takes away that profitability,” he said, adding his department has used civil agreements with local businesses like restaurants to be able to eject people with a history of firearms offences or drug trafficking.
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Addressing gang-related homicides has also meant adopting GPS tracking and sophisticated surveillance systems, he said.
“We have to innovate to keep up with organized crime groups.”
Heard and Gray said having officers that reflect communities and develop local relationships is key, especially when police are trying to encourage people to exit gang life.
Attaché Chris Taylor at the U.S. Dept of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, spoke about the importance of tracing where guns come from, and speeding up ballistics imaging across Canada. Outside of a handful of major cities, it can take months to years to identify whether a recovered firearm was used in a previous shooting, he said. At the same time, 3D printing technology used to fabricate guns is expanding and becoming more available.
“It’s already a problem in the U.S. and it’s going to be an ever-evolving problem here in Canada,” he said.
Executive assistant police chief Sean Connolly of the Phoenix Police Department expressed optimism over the police use of new technology like drones, or artificial intelligence in the 911 dispatch system.
lijohnson@postmedia.com
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