Absolutely. I'll give you one concrete example of some work that we've undertaken at the Canadian Police Association. We just sponsored, an operational review of the Winnipeg Police Service. We brought in two academics, Dr. Curt Griffiths and Dr. Nahanni Pollard. Curt Griffiths is a professor at the Simon Fraser School of Criminology. We identified around 98 positions in the Winnipeg Police Service that were occupied by police officers whose positions could be filled by civilian personnel, with some additional training. That would free up those police officers to be redeployed into front-line positions on the street protecting the public, which is exactly what Canadians expect from police organizations.
That's not to say that you would necessarily save money. In some places such as Vancouver we've created a lot of hybrid units. Work that's traditionally been done by police officers is now done by civilians with specialized training. They work with police officers in a hybrid unit that yields a much better product. This leads to greater efficiency in how you deploy and respond to crime in your city or in your jurisdiction.
In some cases, there are savings. In others, the civilian personnel with the special training sometimes cost more than the police officers. But you're getting a better product, and it's more efficient in how you deliver the service. So there are some very good opportunities. I think the bottom line is that you have to look at whether the position requires the authority or credibility of a police officer in order for the duties to be performed effectively. If the answer to those questions is no, then you can look at an alternative.