Lecture Two ▯Police: Organization and Powers
Structure of Canadian policing (4 tiered system)
• Federal force
o RCMP responsible to the solicitorgeneral of Canada under the RCMP Act for
enforcement of federal statutes such as the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act,
the Securities Act; don’t usually investigate Criminal Code violations, but may be
asked to; also responsible for national security issues (such as protecting foreign
dignitaries and/or highranking public officials)
• Provincial forces enforce both Criminal Code and Provincial Offences
o RCMP (under contract to the province) ▯ their role remains defined under the
RCMP act, but they are responsible to both the solicitorgeneral and the province
to which they are contracting for
Ensuring public safety and crime prevention for unincorporated areas (ie.
Highways and lands outside of municipalities)
They also work as an information clearinghouse and provide assistance
to municipal forces on issues relating to: electronic crime, organized
crime, crime detection laboratories, CPIC or the Canadian Police
Information Center, and the Canadfian Police College
o Provincial forces (OPP, etc) responsibilities same as above
• Municipal forces
o Responsible for: enforcement of criminal code offences, provincial quasi
offences, and municipal bylaw infractions
o RCMP or provincial force (under contract to a municipality, eg. Burnaby or
Surrey)
o Municipal force ▯ include independent city forces such as the London Police, the
Toronto Police Service and the Vancouver Police Department or regional forces
composed of multiple jurisdiction banned together (Peel Regional Police in
Ontario)
• Aboriginal police forces
o Are essentially treated as municipal forces; accountability structure us
same/similar to that of a municipal force (local control); enforcement of federal,
provincial and municipal offences
Police Duties
• Principal duties:
o Preserving the peace
o Preventing crimes and other offences
o Assisting victims of crime
o The investigation of crimes
o The apprehension of criminals
o Recommending charges and participating in prosecutions
o Executing warrants
• However, as a 24hour service provider, they are called upon to do much more than this.
Provide some examples (taking people to find shelter, kids back on buses, settling
disputes, helping lost people)
Police Powers • The power to invoke the law, through a range of sanctions from issuing tickets to
effecting an arrest ▯ a form of coercion in and of itself, coupled with the ability to use
force in effecting a resolution, is said to define the police institution, and separate its
practitioners from others who are similarily tasked with dealing with society’s problems
Power of Arrest ▯generally covered under section 495 of the Criminal Code
• Types of arrest (outlined under the CCC and in other pieces of federal legislation)
• Warrantless
o Where an officer has reasonable grounds to believe that an individual(s) has
committed an indictable offence or is about to commit one (except s.553
offences ▯ the lowest level of indictable offences, tried by a provincial court judge
only. Eg. Obtaining money or property by false pretenses; keeping a bawdy
house/betting house, etc)
o Where an officer finds someone committing any criminal offence (indictable,
summary or hybrid)
o Where an officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a warrant of arrest or
criminal committal (a document issued by a judge directing corrections officials
to receive someone into custody upon sentencing; or where an individual’s parole
has been revoked) is in force within the jurisdiction in which an individual is
found
o Two additional conditions on the power of arrest:
The officer must have reasonable grounds to believe that the person is
not likely to appear in court of their own accord
The officer must have reasonable grounds to believe that an arrest is
‘necessary to the public interest’ because
• There is a need to establish an individual’s identity
• There is a need to secure or preserve evidence relating to the
offence
• To prevent the continuation or repetition of the crime or another
offence
•
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