Criminologist: 'Mosaic model' to spread across Canada as RCMP complaints mount

A New Brunswick community is exploring the idea of hiring private security guards, as complaints mount about RCMP service.

“The reason we’re talking about this other layer of policing is because it’s something we have in our control,” said St. Stephen mayor Allan MacEachern, at a public meeting last week. “Because we’re getting beat up here, and we’re hearing all the complaints, which are valid. And the only thing we can do… add another layer… this, we do have control over.”

Councillors in St. Stephen said numerous messages from residents about theft, vandalism, and assault had only grown over the last several months.

The St. Stephen Area Chamber of Commerce issued an open letter earlier this month, saying businesses had begun locking doors during business hours and scheduling employees to never work alone due to safety concerns. 

Jeff Renaud, the chief administrative officer in St. Stephen, said discussions with a third-party security company suggested each private officer would cost roughly between $105,000 to $125,000.

“They try to work hand in glove with the RCMP,” said Renaud. “They end up being extra eyes for the RCMP. They can contact them by radio. If they get a drunk driver than can contact them by radio. If they get a drunk driver they can follow them by car until the Mounties show up and take over.”

St. Stephen has budgeted $2.2 million for RCMP coverage in 2023.

Residents at the public meeting voiced concerns that private security officers wouldn’t have the authority to stop crime from happening.

Michael Kempa, an associate professor in criminology at the University of Ottawa, said private security companies present other challenges.

“Although private security will do what the people that pay them to do, it’s not always as clear if somebody is mistreated by a private security guard that there’s a public mechanism of accountability in place,” said Kempa, in an interview with CTV Atlantic. “Who would you know to complain to, in other words?”

MacEachern said no final decision had been made about a private security company.

Nearby in McAdam, village mayor Ken Stannix said the addition of private security was considered during discussions about RCMP coverage last year.

Stannix said private security was ultimately rejected by village officials because “we felt we kind of knew who the bad guys were.”

“At that time, we felt we did not need the extra security, although we keep that on the back burner all the time,” Stannix added.

Surveillance cameras have been installed around McAdam, and Stannix said more cameras would soon be added after proving successful in providing information about recent thefts.

Stannix said conversations with RCMP about providing coverage during specific hours had also been productive since last summer.

Community policing models and the role of the RCMP are up for debate across the country.

Last week, the municipal council in Cumberland County, N.S. gave unanimous approval to issue a request for proposals in the search for a local RCMP replacement. 

“We’re likely to see almost of a mosaic model across Canada in the near future,” said Kempa.

“Some municipalities, where it’s going very badly with the RCMP, will immediately establish municipal forces particularly if they can afford them,” said Kempa. “While others may (go) with the hybridized models, continuing to go with the RCMP for the time being and perhaps supplementing them with either private security or different types of provincial authorities.”