Contemporary Issues in Canadian Policing

Edited by Stephen E. Nancoo
Mississauga, ON: Canadian Educator’s Press, 2004.

I have anxiously awaited publication of Stephen Nancoo’s Contemporary Issues in Canadian Policing, hoping to find a reader on Canadian policing issues to accompany the general coverage textbooks I have used on policing.

Part 1 sets the stage for the book with an introduction and overview of each of the chapter readings, and includes a chapter written especially for the book by Ken Menzies, titled ‘Two concepts of public policing: Police as force and policing as risk minimization’. This reading is a sophisticated conceptual approach that examines the contemporary, often conflicting definitions of policing, in particular the ongoing transition from traditional ‘crime fighting’ and ‘non-negotiable force’ type policing to community-based ‘risk minimization’ policing. Menzies concludes that police services that adopt a neo-liberal approach to community policing are better at forming partnerships with community agencies, and better able to share power in addressing local security concerns.

Community policing issues are addressed more directly in Part II. Three of the four chapters are written by practitioners (including Nancoo himself), and describe different community based approaches and initiatives as these have been implemented in Canada. The fourth chapter is a now classic article by Tammy Landau that examines policing in four Aboriginal communities, highlighting the important ‘service function’ role that police officers play in these communities.

In Part III police culture, ethics and technology are addressed. David MacAlister’s chapter on police subculture is a comprehensive and solid treatment of the subject with a rare Canadian focus. The chapter by David Sunahara explores the development of a social-psychological model of unethical/unprofessional police behaviour. I found Sunahara’s argument difficult to follow without a graphical representation of the model. The chapter dealing with police use of technology reads like it was composed for a management audience, and may not appeal to students.

Part IV of the book examines human resource issues in policing. Nancoo’s chapter on managing diversity provides a good coverage of the challenges facing police organizations as they wrestle with managing an increasingly diverse workforce. The Jain, Singh and Agocs chapter addressing the recruitment, selection and promotion of visible minority and Aboriginal police officers presents some interesting research revealing that while some progress has been made, police services have yet to make a concerted to recruit visible minority or Aboriginal officers, or to promote appropriate role models. The LeBreuf and McLean chapter on women and policing in Canada dates from the late 1990’s, and needs to be updated to incorporate recent statistics and research on women in Canadian policing.

Five chapters dealing with operational issues in policing make up Part V and comprise the strongest part of the book. The chapter by de Lint and Hall examines police use of ‘consensus building’ tactics to better manage strike situations. Police interrogation is critically examined in the chapter by James Williams, followed by Parent’s and Verdun-Jones’s chapter examining police use of deadly force. James Sheptycki’s chapter on the transnationalization of policing and the investigation of serial killings is a thoughtful piece, and demonstrates the extent to which the maintenance of social order in any society is now a transnational issue. The chapter by Carrington and Schulenberg rounds out this part of the book, and provides a detailed examination of data on police use of discretion with young offenders.

Part VI of the book concludes with two chapters by Nancoo and Nancoo and Torigian addressing the future trends, prospects and challenges of policing in Canada, including globalization, terrorism, racial profiling, private policing and performance measurement.

While Stephen Nancoo’s Contemporary Issues in Canadian Policing is a useful reader, I admit to being a bit disappointed by some of the choices Nancoo has made with respect to the readings included in the book, and the topics covered. Only eight of the nineteen chapters represent peer-reviewed articles, and only half of these are published in 2000 or later. I was somewhat surprised that there was no reading addressing the issues related to civilian oversight or policing, nor problems posed by the growing militancy of police associations. Racial profiling, private policing and terrorism are given only brief mention in the concluding chapter to the book.

In the absence of a plethora of other books of readings about Canadian policing issues, Stephen Nancoo’s Contemporary Issues in Canadian Policing is a good choice for policing-related courses at both the college and university level. I hope the author is already contemplating a revised and updated second edition.