Community, Contract and Aboriginal Policing

Canada-US Law Enforcement Border Partnership- An Evolving Situation

by

Marcel-Eugène LeBeuf, Ph.D.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Speech Delivered at The Sixth Biennial Conference:
International Perspectives on Crime, Justice and Public Order
London, June 16-20, 2002

Sponsored by: John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Metropolitan Police Service
Federal Bureau of Investigation Centrex

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Government of Canada.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Current Situation
• Border Issues
• Collaborative Partnership
• Partnership at the Border
• Some lessons learned with respect to partnership for law enforcement agencies
• Bibliography

Introduction

Today I am going to talk about the law enforcement partnership at the Canada-US border.

My presentation is based on material from a research project I started last winter. It should be considered as a work in progress.

The research project examines the impact of organized crime in Canada through partnership at the border. More specifically, the process is about the implementation of partnerships with respect to cross-border issues between Canada and the United States.

I have conducted a series of interviews and field observations. I still have a series of interviews to complete.

I am interested by the actual development of collaborative partnerships as well as by the current, evolving situation at the border.

I would like to show that organized crime can have positive, unexpected outcomes on Canadian law enforcement organizations.

Not only are there intense negotiations going on between law enforcement agencies and political stakeholders, but also between Canadian and US officials.

I would also like to show that collaborative partnership represents a challenge because of its innovative application in the field of public security.

To obtain an electronic copy of the complete report (PDF), please send a request by e-mail to the Research and Evaluation Section (Community, Contract and Aboriginal Policing Services) of the RCMP research_evaluation@rcmp-grc.gc.ca