Exploring core policing and the reality of policing responsibilities

In Canada, in recent years, concern has been expressed about increasing policing costs and a drift away from what is termed ‘core policing.’ In fact, the majority of police responses to calls for service are associated to non-crime or ‘social’ calls for service. To understand what constitutes core policing within policing services, analyses were conducted of reported police events and calls for service in different jurisdictional types within the Province of British Columbia. While differences in the percentages of police events and calls for service types were noted by jurisdictional grouping, there was general consistency in the nature of the police reported activities. This research sets the context for further discussions of the definition of core policing, changes in public expectations of policing services, and reform of the role of the police.