Off the Rails: The Challenges of Implementing a Community-Based Deployment Model in the Metro Vancouver Transit Police

• In Event: Strategic Management and Change in Policing

Abstract

The Metro Vancouver Transit Police is the only armed transit police service in Canada. This police service has been in transition since ints inception in the mid-2000s. Based on the results of two research studies, the former Transit Chief decided to implement a new Hub and Spoke or "community-based" deployment model. The model involved a shift from random patrol deployment and reactive investigation to community-based strategic policing that is intelligence-led and evidence-based. The current paper is part of a multi-year evaluation of the model's implementation and focuses on officers' perceptions of and experiences with the new model. Research has revealed the challenges of policing in the transit environment, as well as the unique nature of the Transit Police culture. Thus far, implementation of the model has been faced with a number of challenges including officer resistance, resource issues, politics and personalities and organizational dysfunction. This study should serve as a useful example to other police services as they endeavour to implement principles of community-based and intelligence-led policing in the new 21st century police environment.

Author

• Joshua J. Murphy, Simon Fraser University