As #DefundThePolice becomes the rallying cry of recent protests, we take a brief look at the history of policing in Canada and BC, how police are governed in the province today and the possibility of reform going forward.

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Links

Policing

* RCMP dashcam video shows officer tackling, punching Chief Allan Adam during arrest

* BC has country’s highest rate of police-involved deaths, groundbreaking CBC data reveals

* Police (wikipedia)

* British Columbia Provincial Police

* Police resources in Canada, 2018

* The Structure of Police Services in BC – Province of British Columbia 

* Municipal Police Boards – Province of British Columbia

* Vancouver mayor asks B.C. for ‘comprehensive review’ of policing in province

* Policy Options for Defunding the Police & Creating Alternative Services of Safety and Support

Quick takes

* B.C. reports highest-ever monthly total of illicit drug deaths in May 2020

* Restaurant capacity limits eased as BC marks 6 days without a COVID-19 death

* Safe supply guidelines are a clusterfuck

* Trudeau, Tories spar over who’s to blame for delaying disability support payments

* Canadians have made 190,000 repayments on CERB claims, says CRA

*  Federal government to provide $14B to provinces, territories to ‘safely’ restart economies 

* Foreign Affairs Minister has two mortgages with state-run Bank of China

Image: First Vancouver Police Department patrol wagon, 1908 by Stuart Thomson. Public domain via