Policing in Canada is in the process of change: similar to other nations in the western world, many of the policing services that were provided by public forces in the past are being gradually handed over to private security agencies.

Complex networks of policing that reflect a mix of public and private security providers are emerging, and this transformation has serious implications for how Canadians interact with one another. For instance, if residents of a gated community or members of a downtown business association pay for their own policing services rather than relying on the public police, whose law is being enforced?

With this collection, Dennis Cooley has brought together some of the top minds in criminology and policing to examine the phenomenon of the changing nature of policing in Canada. The essays describe the character and constitution of security in Canada and explore the implications of these changes in terms of larger questions about power, social control, justice, and law. Wide-ranging and topical, Re-imagining Policing in Canada will prove essential reading for policy-makers and scholars alike.

Dennis Cooley grew up in Estevan, Saskatchewan, and attended the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Rochester. He is an active member of the writing community in Winnipeg and teaches at St. John’s College, University of Manitoba. His latest book of poetry is the bentleys (2006).

Nicole Markotić is a poet and critic who teaches at the University of Windsor and edits the chapbook publication Wrinkle Press. She has published two poetry books, Connect the Dots and Minotaurs & Other Alphabets, as well as a fictional biography of Alexander Graham Bell, Yellow Pages. She is currently completing a novel.

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