Saint John Police Force part of national study of best practices

The Saint John Police Force is one of six forces across the country being studied to improve efficiencies and develop best practices.

A team of researchers from Carleton University was in Saint John this week, looking at the force’s equipment and management, and speaking to officers at all levels of the force.

The study will compare the operations of the Saint John force, with those in Port Moody, B.C., Calgary, Peel, Toronto and Ottawa.

Nicole Paquet, the new chair of the Saint John board of police commissioners, said the local force has been under fire for rising policing costs. She believes the study will help defend the department's expenses.

"There’s lots they can help us with in terms of what are other police services are doing," Paquet said. "How do we compare? That is something that I think we have not been able to articulate, which has led to some of the frustrations around the [city] council table."

Paquet said police forces across the country are facing rising costs and the study is coming at a good time because the commission is developing its strategic plan.

We are definitely going to have to go through a significant program of change in order to meet the challenges in front of us.- Nicole Paquet, Saint John board of police commissioners

"We are definitely going to have to go through a significant program of change in order to meet the challenges in front of us," she said.

Chief Bill Reid will retire in April, after serving as a police officer for 37 years — six of those as chief.

"Our next big challenge is to find a chief of police who can drive that change and can be the leader that we need him or her to be," said Paquet.

She says the study was not prompted because of recent criticism from Mayor Mel Norton over the police force’s over-time budget. She said the Carleton study has been in the works for years.

The research team is being led by Linda Duxbury, a professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, who studies change management with the Sprott School of Business.

and the final report will be available later in the spring.