MONTREAL, Nov. 15, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - GardaWorld mandated
the leading firm in Canada, Ipsos
Public Affairs1, to conduct a scientific survey on the
use of security firms to support police forces. For the past
several months, GardaWorld and the private security industry have
clearly expressed that they are ready to play a greater role in
supporting police forces. The private security industry can fulfill
the duties for which its agents have been duly trained and
regulated. The publishing of this survey is very timely, as the
Government of Ontario has tabled
Bill 175, one of the objectives of which is to "set clear
parameters that outline police responsibilities and identify where
the use of non-police personnel may be appropriate."
A clear majority
Thus, the results of the Ipsos survey clearly show that a
majority of Canadians agree with increasing support for our police
forces through private security companies that would perform the
support tasks currently being performed by police officers. 59% are
in favour versus 29% who are not.
"Twice as many Canadians are comfortable with the concept
than not. It's a great starting point for a complex issue that is
not very well known, but so very important" said the
Hon. Christian Paradis, Senior Vice President at GardaWorld
and former Federal Minister.
Very strong support for several proposals
Canadians are comfortable with many of the measured proposals
identified in the Ipsos survey.
- Security at major events: 79% are comfortable versus 16% who
are not.
- Traffic management: 70% are comfortable versus 24% who are
not.
- Enforcing municipal by-laws and parking tickets: 59% are
comfortable versus 32% who are not.
- Administrative tasks at the police station (forensic
identification, administrative support and facility management):
58% are comfortable versus 33% who are not.
"There is no question that Canadians are ready to optimize
the system" added Mr. Paradis.
Significant support for other measures requiring more public
explanation and education
Canadians also show a significant level of support for other
proposals made by the private security industry, even though there
is greater hesitation on their part.
- Assisting victims during the suspect identification process:
49% are comfortable versus 42% who are not.
- Taking statements following a theft in the home after the area
has been secured by police officers: 45% are comfortable versus 46%
who are not.
- Detention services and transportation of detainees: 40% are
comfortable versus 50% who are not.
- Taking statements and fingerprints and transcription of
interviews at the police station: 40% are comfortable versus 52%
who are not.
- Securing crime scenes: 37% are comfortable versus 56% who are
not.
For Christian Paradis, the data
is encouraging and shows that Canadians could lend more support to
these proposals. "I get the feeling that some of the people
surveyed, when asked certain questions, pictured scenes that they
see in the CSI shows, when in fact that's not the case at all. And
very few people say that they are "very uncomfortable". We need to
raise awareness and educate, but again, it's a great starting
point."
Canadians are ready
Canadians are ready for companies like GardaWorld to play a
greater role with respect to support tasks. "We already provide
cash transportation services for financial institutions,
transportation of detainees for The Canada Border Services Agency
and pre-boarding security in airports. There is no reason why we
couldn't better support police forces in the examples such as those
proposed in the survey" explained former Federal Minister
Christian Paradis.
Putting the right people in the right places
"When you go to the dentist's office, not everybody there is
a dentist. The reasons seem obvious to us, it's just common sense.
Yet in our police forces, trained and qualified police officers
perform tasks other than their essential duties, tasks for which
their expertise is not at all required. What we're saying is this:
let's put the right people in the right places, otherwise the
system isn't viable." explained Mr. Paradis.
"It's important to understand that we do not want to replace
police officers. Nobody is suggesting that we should privatize the
police, that's not it at all. We want to perform the tasks for
which we are qualified in order to support our police officers,
which would enable them to focus more on the duties that only they
are qualified for. A qualified police officer who is managing
downtown traffic is not tracking down criminals, which is what he
would be doing if we were handling the traffic. It's common sense
and it can be applied in many ways" concluded Christian Paradis.
About GardaWorld
GardaWorld is one of the largest
privately-owned security services companies in the world. We
provide cash transportation and processing services, protection
services and pre-boarding control services in Canadian airports.
Our over 62,000 dedicated and highly qualified professionals serve
a diversified clientele throughout North
America, the Middle East,
Africa and Europe. We work across a broad range of
sectors, including financial institutions, infrastructures, natural
resources and retail, and on behalf of Fortune 500 companies,
governments and humanitarian organizations. For more information,
visit www.garda.com
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1 Survey report is appended to this news release. The
survey involved 1,007 Canadians and was conducted between October 27 and November 1, 2017.
SOURCE Groupe de sécurité GardaWorld Inc.