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GardaWorld releases survey on security firms supporting police with legalization of cannabis

“For the past few years, 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 guards have been duly trained and regulated,” the company stated in a news release.

“Elected municipal officials across the country express concern about the costs of implementing cannabis legalization. However, the security industry offers safer, less expensive solutions that are supported by the public,” GardaWorld continued.

Ipsos asked 1,007 respondents for their level of comfort relating to the involvement of private firms in support of police officers for:

• Surveillance of areas surrounding cannabis production sites: 70 per cent are comfortable compared to 21 per cent who are not.
• Monitoring of warehousing and distribution centres for cannabis products: 69 per cent are comfortable compared to 21 per cent who are not.
• Surveillance of cannabis production sites: 69 per cent are comfortable compared to 21 per cent who are not.
• Secure transport of cannabis products from production sites to warehousing and distribution centres: 66 per cent comfortable compared to 24 per cent who are not.

“These results demonstrate that Canadians want to have a secure environment in the wake of the legalization of cannabis, and that in this regard, they are very comfortable with the prospect of having serious security companies play a greater role in supporting police officers,” said Christian Paradis, senior vice-president of GardaWorld.

The results also show that Canadians want to have surveillance across the entire value chain, GardaWorld said: from cannabis production to consumption by product users.

“One example that quickly comes to mind is a truck full of cannabis which leaves the production site and has to travel a few hundred kilometres to the storage facility — or from the warehouse to the point of sale to the consumer,” Paradis said. “This truck can be a target for criminals; a much larger target than a truck loaded with food, toys, or alcohol. The police will not be able to escort these trucks, however, we can offer a secure transportation service, as we already do, for money.”

The same reasoning applies to security at the point of sale, storage, or production of cannabis.

“By enforcing laws and regulations related to the legalization of cannabis, such as monitoring public areas where consumption will be prohibited, transportation, storage and points of sale, we are able to provide high-quality, sophisticated services all while ensuring the safety of the population,” Paradis said.

The security industry is also calling on the various levels of government to apply the necessary legislative changes to make outsourcing possible or easier across Canada.

With the legalization of cannabis, it is important to avoid placing an unnecessary burden on our police officers with tasks that are not exclusive to their line of work, GaradWorld stated.

“Instead, we should make sure that our police forces are assigned to as many tasks for which they alone are trained to undertake and let the private security industry offer support for auxiliary tasks at a much lower cost,” Paradis concluded.