Story by Matthew Black • Yesterday
The Alberta Police Act is being overhauled for the first time in decades, with the province introducing a series of changes to how policing is organized and officers investigated.
Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis releases details on updates to the Police Act in Alberta on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022.© Provided by Edmonton Journal
Some of the biggest revisions outlined in Bill 6 — the Police Amendment Act — include granting the province the power to appoint members to local police commissions, expanding the authority of Alberta’s police watchdog and creating new civilian government bodies to oversee police.
Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis introduced the bill for first reading in the legislature Thursday afternoon.
“Updating the Police Act isn’t only about reflecting the needs of Alberta today, but ensuring that we have a blueprint that will serve our province into the future,” he told reporters earlier in the day.
The act governs the operations of municipal police services and last underwent a full-scale update in 1988, prompting calls for an overhaul from community and policing leaders who said it didn’t meet the needs of modern policing.
Justice Minister Tyler Shandro called it “chronically ignored” in an interview with Postmedia in September.
The changes follow years of consultations that started in 2018 under Rachel Notley’s NDP government.
Opposition justice critic Irfan Sabir characterized the bill as being “very thin on details” and called for more details on costs to be released.
“Without adequate funding for our justice system and proper checks and balances to prevent the UCP’s political interference, this legislation is meaningless and will not improve trust in our law enforcement.”
‘An independent body’
The government says the bill limits the practice of police investigating police through the creation of a new independent watchdog agency, the Police Review Commission. It would have the authority to investigate and conduct hearings into complaints against police.
The existing police watchdog — the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) — will be transitioned under the new agency’s structure.
ASIRT’s authority would also be expanded to include investigating peace officers in situations involving serious injury or death, something currently done by police.
“This is going to be an independent body,” Ellis said.
He said the province is negotiating with the RCMP in an effort to ensure Mounties would also fall under the jurisdiction of the new commission.
Related video: Alberta justice minister calls on head of RCMP to resign (cbc.ca)Duration 2:02 View on Watch
In a release, Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee welcomed the new agency, saying he “hope(s) this new direction will provide an additional layer of public transparency and assurance.”
Ellis said he didn’t have a specific number for the budget of the new agency.
Funding is expected to be split between local police services and the province but the exact division of costs has yet to be worked out.
ASIRT’S executive director resigned in November of last year after complaining of file backlogs, funding shortfalls and staffing issues.
‘Seat at the table’
The act would also grant the new power for a minister to appoint multiple members to local police commissions, the arm’s-length bodies that oversee local police services. Currently, municipal councillors appoint members to their individual police commissions.
The number of commissioners the province can appoint will vary based on the size of each commission, but is not expected to exceed one-quarter of an individual commission’s members.
Ellis said the new powers ensured ”there’s a seat at the table” for the province with municipalities and police commissions, claiming the change had “good support” from mayors.
The bill will also allow the minister to intervene in activities of stand-alone police services on request to address disputes.
“Unfortunately, somebody has to come in and be a bit of an … arbitrator,” Ellis said.
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi has been among the critics of the current Police Act. His office said he was unavailable for comment on Thursday.
Sabir the new ministerial powers go too far.
“It is a disturbing step towards the politicization of policing from a government that has a record of political interference in law enforcement and the administration of justice.”
‘No decisions’ on provincial police
The bill also creates a new province-wide governing body as well as a series of new formal civilian bodies in Alberta communities policed by the RCMP.
Ellis said the new agencies would give Albertans more say in local policing and provide oversight in a way similar to that of a police commission.
“Giving these communities a more formal role in setting priorities and goals will ensure police are more in tune with their needs,” the minister said.
The new bodies will be created in municipalities with populations exceeding 15,000, and regional zones will be set up for areas with fewer residents.
“Currently, we have some folks within rural Alberta that may not feel as though they’re being listened to by the RCMP and it’s just the feedback that we’ve gotten,” Ellis said.
The bill also calls for police to work with partner agencies in their communities to develop community safety, diversity and inclusion plans, something many have already done.
Ellis said the new legislation did not represent a step towards establishing an Alberta provincial police force.
“No decisions have been made regarding the service.”
– With files from Jonny Wakefield
mblack@postmedia.com
Twitter @ByMatthewBlack
No comments:
Post a Comment