I think most people in the Canadian police community recognize that while there are institutions and provinces and capacities and innovations going on across the country, there is no central research policy centre that coordinates, that communicates, that doesn't necessarily dictate but in a sense simply allows the decentred nature of Canadian policing to flourish without being parochial and local and failing to learn, while duplicating each other's efforts.
Some kind of national policy research centre that would provide information, perhaps research support, is needed. I think there is a victims' centre in Public Safety Canada that took this initiative. I worked in a unit within the federal government at one stage that had four or five people whose job it was to facilitate and communicate research and fund research nationally. That was the research unit of the Solicitor General. I was responsible in those days for community policing. We were very successful simply by supporting and spreading information and knowledge to the Canadian police community, which the Canadian police community took up.
They also funded, by the way, centres of criminology to fund police-related research initiatives.
So there is a central leadership role, which doesn't have to dictate—it's more a networking and communications and best practices model, which I think could be created—and there are a number of models out there that could be looked at.
But I'll hand this over to the chief, because I'm sure he has some significant ideas about this himself.