At various times, politicians from all three Tri-Cities municipalities have mused separately about the various policing models for each community.

Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam have signed on for the RCMP, while Port Moody continues with its municipal force.

In a few short weeks, elected officials from all three cities will get together to discuss another law and order option - a regional police force.

The meeting, which is planned for the end of the month, is essentially an education session for politicians, and is set to include guest speakers who will provide arguments both for and against the idea of regional policing.

The session was inspired by PoCo Mayor Greg Moore following the release of a report into missing women linked to serial killer Robert Pickton.

The 1,400-plus page report, which was based on an inquest headed by former attorney general Wally Oppal, recommended a regional police force for the Lower Mainland.

Moore said he saw the issue as a big topic in his own city and figured there was a way for all three municipalities to come together.

"Since this is going to be a very topical issue for us in local government in the

coming year, it makes a lot of sense that we bring in some experts to help us understand this issue more," he told The NOW.

Moore has been in contact with Oppal to have him attend the session as a guest speaker, but nothing has been confirmed.

Earlier this year, cities across the province signed on to a new 20-year RCMP contract.

But the contract rankled several municipalities and local politicians, who argued cities didn't get a big enough say in the deal.

As a result, several cities waited until the last minute to sign on to the deal, while others said they would consider other policing models when the two-year opt-out clause comes up.

Port Coquitlam, along with Burnaby, Richmond and North Vancouver, looked into replacing the RCMP with a city force, but in the case of PoCo, there was no decision to go in another direction.

Moore said he's still undecided about the regional police force idea, but said he expects the meeting to give him a better understanding of the pros and cons on the issue.

"Moving forward when the discussion comes up, we can speak to it with more knowledge," he said.

Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay said if the province or different municipalities want to change policing in the region, his city needs to be involved in the discussion.

"Right now there's a blanket statement in [Wally] Oppal's report there should be a regional model, but nobody knows what that means," he said.

He said Port Moody officials would also be in the meeting to bring their experience in dealing with a municipal police force.

"If they're [cities] going to be having that conversation, I think it's important that they know what it's really like to be on the municipal [police] side, and I don't think a lot of them do," he said.

Clay suggested in the case of Port Moody, policing costs are higher than with an RCMP force, but the level of service is also greater.

jdeutsch@thenownews.com