It should now be easier to transfer young offenders to adult court where warranted because protection of the public will be the over-riding criteria. Not long ago, we also introduced tough new laws to go after organized crime, and especially drug traffickers. Using the new law, the police can freeze the assets of drug dealers. The overriding message in all these initiatives is that public safety comes first. But the police, like government, can't do it all.
Society expects a lot, perhaps sometimes too much, of police officers.
I sense the concerns and pressures that have come to bear on policing over the last two decades. Increased demands for reporting and accountability, decreased police discretion, heightened public scrutiny - all have had an impact. There is a temptation under these types of conditions to fall into the trap of adopting a them-us attitude. Fortunately in Canada, that attitude has generally been avoided, mainly because the police and the community have realized two important factors. One, no single group has all the answers to the complex issues that face Canadian society today.