Thunder Bay Police Service not efficient, report says

A national reportfrom the Fraser Institute, released Monday, suggested thatafter controlling for local crime rates and social factors like unemployment, Thunder Bay has one of the most overstaffed police forces in the country.

The study's author, Lakehead University economics professor Livio Di Matteo, based his results on Statistics Canada data for police resources, costs and crime rates, from 2001 to 2012.

• Police and Crime Rates in Canada: A Comparison of Resources and Outcomes

Di Matteo says the model predicted that in 2011 Thunder Bay should have 170 officers, but the city actually had 193.

"When you see these numbers, the first thing you do have to ask yourself is there something about how you police, your style of policing, or perhaps the development of the force over time that explains the difference.

"Are there local crime factors that are unique that maybe require more resources?" askedDi Matteo.

Constable Julie Tilbury would say yes.

Thunder Bay police face 'unique challenges'

The Thunder Bay Police spokesperson saidthe city's police forcefaces some additional challenges and expenses, including operating a Tactical Unit.

"Not all police forces do have a tactical unit.They sometimes work jointly with other organizations.However based on the fact we are such an isolated area,Thunder Bay police do feel it's a need to maintain a tactical unit in orderto meet the needs of the community," said Tilbury.

She added that the city faces numerous socio-economic factors including substance abuse that pose what she calls "unique challenges" for police.

"It's not a mystery to anyone in Thunder Bay.The high substance-abuse issues in our community, sometimes these are not incidents that are 'statted'depending on how the incident plays out,but I think that those very much play a part in the response that our officers have to give on a daily basis in our community," said Tilbury.

Some police interactions not measured

In an email to CBC she added "Officers will doproactive policing such as our beat officerprogram. They will spend time working with area businesses to identify issues and proactively deal with it before it becomes an police related problem. It may not be stated because the police presence was able to deter unwanted behaviours associated with certain issues.There is no way to state what "didn't occur" however it does take resources to be assigned to deal with the issue."

Di Matteo saidthat while crime rates are generally going down nationally, calls for service from police are on the rise as officers are asked to deal with the social problems in their communities.

"And so people expect their police forces to do a much wider range of things than they used to - social disturbances, problem behaviour. Police forces spend a great deal of time dealing with the spill out of mental illness, so I mean that is a factor and if some communities have more of these problems than others that may be a factor in the differences," said Di Matteo.

However, Di Matteo said these other types of social interactions by police are not being measured in traditional crime statistics.

"If police forces are, in a sense, doing all these other things, there needs to be a more standardized national body of data thatcaptures these activities in a sense that doesn't quite exist at this time," said Di Matteo.