Professional Port Police: Donald Cassidy’s 1967 Reports on Policing and Security in Canadian Commercial Ports

Authors

  • Chris Madsen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/2561-5467.1239

Keywords:

port policing, Canada, Montréal, National Harbours Board, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Gendarmerie royale du Canada, national security policing

Abstract

In response to a troubling rise in criminal activity in some of Canada’s major commercial seaports during the mid-1960s, the federal Department of Transport engaged a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police/Gendarmerie royale du Canada (RCMP/GRC) member seconded from the Dominion Bureau of Statistics to study the scope of the problem and suggest possible improvements. Two reports were prepared, an internal one for the government harbours board and a public one for the private association representing port managements. A key outcome was creation of the National Harbours Board Police, a new federal police force distinct from the RCMP/GRC. This commentary compares the reports with a table showing the principal recommendations.

En réponse à une augmentation inquiétante de l’activité criminelle dans certains des principaux ports maritimes commerciaux du Canada au milieu des années 1960, le ministère fédéral des Transports a engagé un ancien membre de la Royal Canadian Mounted Police/Gendarmerie royale du Canada (RCMP/GRC) détaché du Bureau fédéral des statistiques pour étudier l’ampleur du problème et suggérer des améliorations possibles. Deux rapports ont été préparés, l’un interne pour le conseil gouvernemental des ports et l’autre public pour l’association privée représentant les gestionnaires des ports. L’un des principaux résultats a été la création de la Police du Conseil national des ports, un nouveau corps de police fédéral distinct de la RCMP/GRC. Ce commentaire compare les rapports avec un tableau reprenant les principales recommandations.

 

Author Biography

Chris Madsen

Chris Madsen is a Professor in the Department of Defence Studies at the Canadian Forces College and Royal Military College of Canada in Toronto, Ontario. He teaches military officers and senior public servants on the National Security Programme and the Joint Command and Staff Programme.

References

Aisha, Tareq Abu, Mustapha Ouhimmou, Marc Paquet, and Julio Montecinos. “Developing the seaport container terminal layout to enhance efficiency of the intermodal transportation system and port operations – case of the Port of Montreal.” Maritime Policy & Management 49, no. 2 (2022): 181-198. doi: 10.1080/03088839.2021.1875140. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03088839.2021.1875140

Block, Alan A. “On the Waterfront Revisited: The Criminology of Waterfront Organized Crime.” Contemporary Crises 6 (1982): 373-396. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00728233

Brodeur, Magaly. Vice et corruption à Montréal 1892-1970. Québec, QC: Presses de l’Université du Québec, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/book15190

Brewer, Russell. Policing the Waterfront: Networks, Partnerships, and the Governance of Port Security. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199687367.001.0001

Brooks, Mary R. “A new direction or stay the course? Canada’s port-specific challenges resulting from the port reform program of the 1990s.” Research in Transportation Business & Management 22 (March 2017): 161-170. doi: 10.1016/j.rtbm.2016.08.002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2016.08.002

Brooks, Mary R. “Maritime Security in Canada.” in Khalid Bichou, Jospeh S. Szyliowicz, and Luca Zamparini (eds.), Maritime Transport Security. Cheltenham and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013. 141-158. doi: 10.4337/9781781954973.00016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781781954973.00016

Cassidy, D.N. “International Cooperation in Port Policing.” RCMP Gazette (January 1972): 2-5.

Charbonneau, Jean-Pierre. La Filière Canadienne. Montréal, QC: Trait d’union, 2002.

Hunter, Peter. The Magic Box: A History of Containerization. Ottawa: International Cargo Handling Co-ordination Association (ICHCA), 1993.

Kelly, Nora and William. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police: A Century of History. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1973.

Levy, Peter B. “The Waterfront Commission of the Port of New York: A History and Appraisal.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 42, no. 4 (July 1989): 508-523. doi:10.1177/001979398904200403. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/001979398904200403

Madsen, Chris. “Pacific Gateway: State Surveillance and Interdiction of Criminal Activity on Vancouver’s Waterfront.” Salus Journal 6, no. 1 (2018): 26-43.

MacDonald, Sandy. The Halifax Longshoremen’s Association 1907-2007. Halifax: International Longshore Association Local 269, 2007.

O’Connor, D’Arcy and Miranda. Montreal’s Irish Mafia: The true story of the infamous West End Gang. Mississauga, ON: J. Willey & Sons, 2011.

Pathy, Alexander C. Waterfront Blues: Labour Strife at the Port of Montreal, 1960-1978. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442683259

Quigley, Kevin F. and Bryan Mills. “‘Set Adrift’: Fatalism as Organizational Culture at Canadian Seaports.” Journal of Homeland Security & Emergency Management 13, no. 1 (April 2016): 191-218. doi: 10.1515/jhsem-2015-0030. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jhsem-2015-0030

Sergi, Anna. “Playing Pac-Man in Portville: Policing the dilution and fragmentation of drug importations through major seaports.” European Journal of Criminology 19, no. 4 (2022): 674-691. doi: 10.1177/1477370820913465. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370820913465

Sergi, Anna and Luca Storti. “Survive or perish: Organised crime in the port of Montreal and the port of New York/New Jersey.” International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 63 (December 2020), 100424. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2020.100424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2020.100424

Sergi, Anna, Alexandria Reid, Luca Storti, and Marlee Easton. Ports, Crime and Security: Governing and Policing Seaports in a Changing World. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781529217711.001.0001

Storti, Luca, Anna Sergi, and Yuliya Zabyelina. “Private Port Authorities and Organized Crime.” in Yuliya Zabyelina and Kimberley L. Thachuk (eds.). The Private Sector and Organized Crime. London: Routledge, 2022, 55-69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003198635-5

Toddington, Michael. “Port Policing: Has Canada dropped the ball?” Frontline Security 2, no. 3 (2005): 23-25.

Photograph depicting shoulder patches from Canada's port police.

Downloads

Published

2024-10-08

How to Cite

Madsen, C. (2024). Professional Port Police: Donald Cassidy’s 1967 Reports on Policing and Security in Canadian Commercial Ports. The Northern Mariner Le Marin Du Nord, 35(1), 107–128. https://doi.org/10.25071/2561-5467.1239