MEMBERTOU — Police officers face “overwhelming” amounts of paperwork that curtail their time on the street, says the federal minister of public safety.
Vic Toews, speaking Wednesday at the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said he will do all he can to help bring about change.
“When I started prosecuting, it took police an hour to process an impaired driver. Now it’s three to four hours and sometimes more for exactly the same offence,” Toews told reporters after his talk to more than 300 chiefs of police from across Canada.
“Even in relatively small investigations, the amount of time required by police has substantially increased, and that limits the ability of the chiefs to get police out on the streets,” he said.
“The amount of paperwork that is required in order to meet demands simply is overwhelming, (and) they comply but it restricts their ability to do street investigations and get more officers on the street.
“More and more resources are dedicated to providing information to defence lawyers.”
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Would it not be a saving to provide someone with qualifications similar to those of a notary to reduce the paper burden on police officers?