British Columbia’s top cop isn’t opposed to the idea of merging police forces in Metro Vancouver, where gang-related violence is commonplace.

“Certainly, in an ideal world, if one was starting from scratch, you would probably look at some kind of approach to regionalization,” John van Dongen, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, told the Georgia Straight.

But according to van Dongen, there is a lack of consensus among politicians in the Lower Mainland on such a policing model.

“The fact is we have many different local governments with a different history and different views about whether or not they want to be part of a big regional police force,” he said. “If I get a clear indication, a majority indication…certainly I’m not opposed to looking at it. I have to have more of a consensus than what we had at the forum last spring.”

That forum on regional policing was organized by his predecessor, John Les, in response to mounting concern over gangland shootings in Metro Vancouver. Among the mayors, only Vancouver’s Sam Sullivan came out in support of a regional police force, back in February this year.

“We know we need to do more because we know that organized crime and gang violence is a serious issue,” van Dongen said. “It’s very difficult for me to move forward if it’s not a team effort.”

Two polls conducted by Angus Reid Strategies in November 2007 and May this year show that a majority of residents in Greater Vancouver favour the creation of a single police force in the region. In its May 2008 survey, Angus Reid also established that three in five residents don’t think that municipal forces are capable of dealing with organized crime.

In 2006, the B.C. Chamber of Commerce released a position paper noting that in large metropolitan areas, “police amalgamation would be beneficial” for reasons ranging from the reduction of policing costs to better public safety.

The group recommended that the B.C. government establish provincial standards “for the integrated delivery of police services”. It also suggested that “where necessary”, the government can legislate the “amalgamation of police services in areas where established standards are not being met”.

Chamber president and CEO John Winter noted that his group hasn’t changed its position on regional policing. “I don’t think gang members or drugs or any of those things respect municipal borders,” Winter told the Straight.

However, Winter acknowledged that the issue of “turf” is a stumbling block that has prevented regional policing from moving forward.

The concept of a regional police for the North Shore—comprising North Vancouver, the District of North Vancouver, and West Vancouver—may emerge from an ongoing review of policing models being undertaken by consulting firm Perivale & Taylor. The firm was hired by the three municipalities, and, according to North Vancouver mayor Darrell Mussatto, the municipalities didn’t put parameters on recommendations that the consulting company may come up with.

“Everything is on the table in the sense of policing and policing models and that sort of thing, but I’m not expecting a major overhaul,” Mussatto told the Straight. “But we didn’t rule out anything.”

Mussatto, whose municipality is served by the RCMP, explained that one of the reasons why the concept of regional policing hasn’t gained much ground among policymakers is that police forces are already operating through integrated task forces. He cited as an example the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, which consists of RCMP and municipal police officers.

There’s also the Integrated Gang Task Force, which targets criminal gangs and has officers from both the RCMP and local police forces. In November last year, following a spate of high-profile gang-related killings, a new antigang task force called the Violence Suppression Team was formed, with the Vancouver police in the lead.

But these aren’t a regional response that will make a serious dent in gang activity and violence, according to Robert Gordon, head of SFU’s school of criminology.

Gordon pointed out that Metro Vancouver and the Greater Victoria Region are the last large metropolitan areas in the country that don’t have a regional police service.

“Until there is a coordinated and organized and properly resourced war on organized crime…we can expect a continuation of gun violence,” Gordon told the Straight.