Spec Article on Hamilton Police Services Board

Nicole O'Reilly has a really good article in the Spec about the police service board, specifically the four civilian members (including bios) that make up the majority. They are appointed by the province and since the Liberals have been in for a decade, likely they are Liberals appointees (some might say hacks, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt). There doesn't seem to be a lot of private sector work apart from Stayshyn and I'm not even sure from the Spec bio what Madeleine Levy had done for full time employment beyond being the member of various boards.

Certainly one doesn't get the sense from the article that any of the civilian board members have any concerns about fiscal responsibility. That's too bad, because anyone could build a good police force with unlimited money. Police Chief Glenn De Caire should be judged as an executive on value for money and he's been failing thus far as chief with his constant demands for more cash in a low GDP growth environment.

Further, there seems to be a belief held that raw police numbers are responsible for reducing crime rates.  However there are other factors, perhaps more important like the reduction of lead in the environment from banning leaded gasoline, described in this Mother Jones article. Considering Hamilton's industrial nature, lead levels and crime are certainly interesting and something I hope to return to in another post.