Tourism could suffer, police coverage drop and taxes increase if the Niagara Parks Police Service can't secure a renewal of the agreement it needs to continue operating, according to Niagara Parks Commission officials.

The Niagara Parks Police could be disbanded in June unless the service gets the renewal that has proven tough to pin down since the old deal expired in 2008.

"If they diminish our authority as special constables, at that point we're unable to continue providing the policing service at the level we currently do," parks police Chief Doug Kane said in an interview.

"It creates a void that would have to be picked up by the Niagara Regional Police Service. That would come with a cost."

Kane and other Niagara Parks Commission officials are sounding the alarm about the consequences of not being able to renew the "special constable agreement" allowing the Niagara Parks Commission to have its own police force on its property.

Technically, parks police officers are known as "special constables." In Ontario, a local police force -like the NRP -can designate

special constables to carry out policing duties in a specified area.

In Niagara, that's how Brock University has its own own campus security department . Across Ontario, agencies like GO Transit and the Toronto Transit Commission have special constables aboard their trains to provide security and enforce laws.

Parks police officers are armed, get the same training as municipal officers and the agency has the same Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agency accreditation other police forces have.

"It's kind of a unique policing model that works well in Niagara," Kane said. "We're able to concentrate on tourism-related issues, whereas they (the NRP) deal with municipal policing."

But the parks police force, started in 1887, is in danger of being disbanded over what parks corporate services director Bob McIlveen says are ministry concerns about how special constable rules work provincewide.

The concerns appear to be that special constable units are not accountable to civilian oversight agencies like Ontario's Special Investigations Unit, the provincially appointed agency that investigates when a civilian is killed or seriously injured while dealing police, Kane said.

"From our position, we're more than willing to comply with that. It's just that the (Police Services Act) would have to be changed," Kane said.

A ministry spokesman was not available to elaborate on the ministry's concerns about special constables Wednesday.

When the parks police agreement expired in 2008, they tried to have it renewed, but Ontario's Ministry of Community Safety instead issued a series of short-term extensions, instead of the five-year renewal the commission wants.

Niagara Parks Police has 20 officers and six civilian staff. In the summer, it hires students as unarmed provincial offences officers who do parking enforcement, traffic duties and have a presence that makes tourists feel comfortable, Kane said.

The service has a budget of about $3 million.

That cost is now covered by the parks commission, which derives its revenue from the attractions, restaurants and shops it runs throughout its parks system. If the parks police were disbanded, the taxpayer-supported Niagara Regional Police would become responsible for covering the area, Kane said.

Tourism could suffer if there were less of a police presence because tourists feel comfortable when they see police officers around, he added.

Larry Iggulden, chairman of the Niagara Regional Police Services Board, said his board is aware of the situ-at ion and he has been involved in meetings with ministry, region, parks commission and parks police officials aimed at resolving the issue.

Police board discussions have been held privately because the issue has legal, operational, policing and personnel aspects to it.

"All parties are looking for a solution that satisfies everyone's concerns," Iggulden said, adding there's no indication yet whether it will be resolved before June.

"I guess no one knows how much time it's going to take to address the issues."

Both Iggulden and an NRP spokesman said neither the board nor the NRP would provide further public comment.

It's valuable for the parks commission to have its own police force because its needs are different from other Niagara communities, Kane said. Parks officers take special rescue training to be part of Niagara gorge rescues. They also enforce the Niagara Parks Act, a law unique to the government-owned land around the falls.

"It's a different kind of policing here," said Kane, who was a Niagara Regional Police superintendent before becoming chief of the Niaga

ra Parks Police in the summer of 2008. "It's a different beast to manage."

clarocque@nfreview.com