myAIPMPolice Leadership During a Pandemic
Matthew Torigian | Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being
"Canadians vilified Prime Minister Kim Campbell in 1993, when she reportedly quipped, “An election is no time to discuss serious issues.” Days later, the Prime Minister clarified that what she really meant was that 47 days of an election campaign is not enough time to discuss serious issues. We still argue today about the impact such a statement had on the election, with some suggesting it led to a thrashing at the polls, while others suggest Canadians were just angry with the policies of her predecessor, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Regardless, her statement was met with disdain by the Canadian media of the day, and rightly so. Would the leader of a police service say the same thing in our situation today? Isn’t now exactly the time to discuss a serious issue, such as whether the police have the moral authority to enforce extraordinary legal measures, and whether public health knowledge about community safety and well-being is a better guide than older ideas about “public order”?
Three elements readily come to mind to help us address these questions. Namely, the role of the police; the role of policing; and, perhaps most importantly, the role of police leaders amid these challenging and unprecedented times.
Legislation may be the simple avenue to answer the first question of what the police can or might do during these current events. Be it the Emergencies Act, the Quarantine Act, or respective pieces of provincial legislation, the legal authorities for police are clearly defined. As an example, Ontario’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) provides the necessary authorities for police, along with the range of penalties for the courts, in the event that a person or business fails to comply with an Order made under the relevant section of the EMCPA. But what about choices and strategies for the deployment of police resources in response to the Order, or the discretion of police officers during the enforcement of such investigations, along with community engagement strategies, or the creative use of technology? How are police leaders, and executives, chiefs, and boards, managing these matters?"
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Police Leadership During a Pandemic, Matthew Torigian, Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, 2020