The British Columbia Police Commission : a case study of successful administrative reform
Date
1978
Authors
Nikitiuk, Constantine
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Abstract
In 1974, when the Government of British Columbia decided to improve the quality of police services in the province, the method chosen was to create a new structure, the British Columbia Police Commission (BCPC), to promote and implement necessary reforms. This thesis is primarily concerned with an analysis of the BCPC's impact. It is a case study of bureaucratic resistance to programmatic change, examining the obstacles encountered by the commission in its endeavors to deal with the main issues related to the improvement of police services in the province. These issues, first defined by discussion groups which preceded the formation of the BCPC, are listed in the first bulletin published by the commission. They are: police role, standards for police services, recruitment, training, community relations and the abuse of police authority. It is these issues, later translated into BCPC goals, upon which the evaluation of the BCPC's progress is based. Original goals statements are compared with actual BCPC achievements to determine the extent of the agency's impact.
This thesis first examines the theory of administrative reform and deals especially with Anthony Downs ' concept of the 'special organization', a model to which the BCPC seems to conform. Then, following a discussion of the merits of case studies the study turns to the BCPC's background and setting. Because the police commission does not exist in a vacuum its immediate background in British Columbia as well as police related developments in Europe and elsewhere in Canada are presented. Chapter III follows with a study of the chief provisions of the Police Act which relate to the BCPC, while Chapter IV, the largest section, is devoted to an analysis of the consequences of creating the police commission. Commission goals and attempts to implement them are examined. Special attention is given in Chapter V to the most important of the BCPC's achievements, the creation of the Police Discipline Code and the B.C. Police College. The next chapter is concerned with the subject of overcoming resistance to BCPC reforms. Sources of resistance are identified as are the means utilized to overcome obstacles to BCPC programmes. Most successful of these means was the 'absorption of protest' strategy in which the police commission's client groups were encouraged to participate in the BCPC's decision making . This study concludes that the BCPC has successfully, in terms of its original stated goals, carried out a programme of administrative reform and that there is evidence that the quality of policing in British Columbia has improved.