The City of Charlottetown commissioned a full review of the Charlottetown Police Department last September to deal with growing demands for more police services.
“We believe that the CPS is increasingly isolated from the community it serves. We conclude that while the CPS is present in the community, it is not a meaningful part of the community,” the report, by Verheul and Associates, says. It says calls aren’t returned and residents don’t see police except on “ticketing binges.”
“We believe that community confidence in the CPS is steadily declining and is presently at risk. Because confidence begets credibility, which then determines legitimacy, we conclude that the challenge before the CPS is serious.”
Verheul and Associates interviewed 65 people, 34 external stakeholders and 31 inside the force.
They reviewed everything from sick leave, overtime, file allocation, workload, data for the PROS file occurrence system, a selection of investigative files and talked to some complainants.
The report indicates Charlottetown police are providing a good level of service, have a strong relationship with the RCMP, corrections and probations and Child and Family Services, but that there is considerable room for improvement in the quality of Crown briefs prepared for the Crown attorney’s office. It also suggests the force establish a stronger intelligence wing.
