The provincial government is preparing to create a new regional police force to fight the spread of organized crime.

The Leader has learned plans by the ministry of the solicitor general call for the merger of three agencies later this year into a single unit that will operate across municipal boundaries.

The agencies are the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit-British Columbia (CFSEU-BC), the Integrated Gang Task Force (IGTF) and the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Unit.

They already operate across municipal boundaries and investigate different aspects of organized crime, so they are viewed as a logical fit.

However, the plan does not include the regional Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), which pursues murder investigations that often involve organized crime.

One source told The Leader that was at least partly because the Vancouver Police Department, the largest municipal force in the Lower Mainland, is not part of IHIT, although it does participate in the other agencies.

The decision to merge the agencies comes after months of public debate about calls to create a single police force in Metro Vancouver to better combat the explosion of gang violence.

The new organized crime unit is viewed as a compromise that will provide regional policing for regional issues while allowing local police to handle local issues.

The merger plan was approved before the last election and the appointment of new B.C. Solicitor General Kash Heed, the former West Vancouver police chief who was an outspoken supporter of merging metro policing.

Critics, such as Metro Vancouver board chair and Delta Mayor Lois Jackson, have opposed creation of a single police force, arguing it will deprive local communities of control over police priorities.

Heed told The Leader the proposed merger is one of many plans under review by his ministry.

"It's not a done deal."

He noted that the new merged organized crime agency, if it goes ahead, would operate well beyond the boundaries of Metro Vancouver.

Heed said he is neither for or against the creation of a single police force in the Lower Mainland, but supports any measures that will break down bureaucratic barriers between different law enforcement agencies operating in the Lower Mainland, and that includes the existing integrated joint forces like CFSEU and IHIT, where RCMP and municipal officers work side-by-side.

"I need to make sure that our integrated teams are truly integrated," Heed said, an apparent reference to persistent reports of friction between municipal police and the RCMP.

The new solicitor general said his sense is that B.C. policing agencies are more willing than ever to set aside whatever differences they may have to combat crime.

"We're trying to find that formula (for co-operative policing)," Heed said.

"We're as close to being on the same page as we've ever been."

Rob Gordon, director of the school of criminology at SFU, called the merger something that is long overdue, but notes it does not represent full regionalization.

"This should not be the end of it," said Gordon, who supports a regional police body while warning it will be a "monumental" challenge to combine RCMP and municipal forces that often have different approaches to policing.

-by Dan Ferguson, Black Press

dferguson@surreyleader.com