PROPOSED NEW MANITOBA POLICE ACT
Apr 15, 2009 11:05:19 GMT -5
Post by proudtobeadp on Apr 15, 2009 11:05:19 GMT -5
ULTRA CONSERVATIVE RIGHT WING MANITOBA NDP GOVERNMENT FINALLY TO DO SOMETHING THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN DECADES. 
Police act tears down 'blue wall'Civilian boards would have authority over local forces.
The Manitoba government introduced sweeping changes Tuesday that will effectively tear down the "blue wall" that has separated many Manitobans from their police officers.
Civilian-led police boards will be created for each municipal police force in the province and police will no longer investigate their own when serious criminal allegations are made, such as in a police-involved shooting.
These changes and others became imperative after last summer's damning inquiry into the 2005 death of Crystal Taman -- killed when an off-duty Winnipeg police officer crashed into her -- and how police bungled the subsequent investigations. But the changes go back further, to the 1991 Aboriginal Justice Inquiry (AJI) report and its recommendation that an independent unit be set up to investigate serious allegations against police.
"This is probably the most modern and up-to-date," act of its kind among provinces, Attorney General Dave Chomiak said of the new Police Services Act. "I think we struck the right balance in Manitoba given our history."
However, Chomiak said there could be some controversy over how officers will be assigned to the investigative unit. They can either be current or former police officers selected by a civilian director. Current police officers would be seconded from their police service.
"To be logical, that's what it will probably have to be," Chomiak said. "Investigators don't sort of grow on trees."
Chomiak said such a selection process may create a perception of bias, in that some of the officers in the unit would still be connected to the police service they're investigating.
"Clearly, when you bring in a rewrite of a police act, you cannot meet everyone's expectations, but to the extent that we were able to manage the various interests, I think that this act goes some way towards modernizing and producing a made-in-Manitoba model that we had promised after the Taman inquiry and that had been asked for in the AJI."
The act also creates a civilian-led Manitoba Police Commission to oversee policing issues throughout the province. Under the commission, civilian police boards will have the authority to hire and fire police chiefs and set the tone for policing in their respective communities. Besides Winnipeg, there are 10 municipal police forces. Only the Dakota Ojibway Police Service, the one aboriginal police service in the province, currently has a police board.
Police across the province, including RCMP, have been consulted for more than a year on the changes.
"This is something that has occurred across the country and I'm certainly supportive of," Winnipeg Police Service Chief Keith McCaskill said of similar changes in other provinces. "I think the act is long overdue."
McCaskill also said the proposed changes go a long way in boosting public confidence in police, something that sagged in recent years, particularly among aboriginal people.
Tory justice critic Kelvin Goertzen said the province should have gone further by also creating a police college so that every provincial law enforcement officer, including conservation officers, would be trained to the same standards. Currently, Brandon police and Winnipeg police train their own officers and officers working in smaller forces like Winkler. There are also private law enforcement academies.
Chomiak said he'd like to see the bill passed this year and the changes phased in as early as next year.
He also said it will likely cost millions to implement.
The outstanding question is whether the new Manitoba Police Commission and the special investigation unit will have any control over RCMP. The RCMP are a federally-regulated police service under contract with the province to provide police services.
Readers, this is certainly a better proposal than what Manitoba's current Law Enforcement Review Agency is all about that has an abysmal track record to match what it failed to do.
Many find the new act proposal does not go far enough because relationship bias in how the new organization will be staffed does not address impartiality far enough. However the most qualified investigators are generally found in either military,para-military settings, legal and quasi-legal settings therefore getting a balanced staff setting will not be an easy task. Seconding current police officers is the least favoured route as relationship bias is too easily courted in such selections, relationships die hard. What would be the relationship be when a seconded officer returns from the stint as an investigator under the new proposed act?
All food for thought as the legislation goes through its stages.
Police act tears down 'blue wall'Civilian boards would have authority over local forces.
The Manitoba government introduced sweeping changes Tuesday that will effectively tear down the "blue wall" that has separated many Manitobans from their police officers.
Civilian-led police boards will be created for each municipal police force in the province and police will no longer investigate their own when serious criminal allegations are made, such as in a police-involved shooting.
These changes and others became imperative after last summer's damning inquiry into the 2005 death of Crystal Taman -- killed when an off-duty Winnipeg police officer crashed into her -- and how police bungled the subsequent investigations. But the changes go back further, to the 1991 Aboriginal Justice Inquiry (AJI) report and its recommendation that an independent unit be set up to investigate serious allegations against police.
"This is probably the most modern and up-to-date," act of its kind among provinces, Attorney General Dave Chomiak said of the new Police Services Act. "I think we struck the right balance in Manitoba given our history."
However, Chomiak said there could be some controversy over how officers will be assigned to the investigative unit. They can either be current or former police officers selected by a civilian director. Current police officers would be seconded from their police service.
"To be logical, that's what it will probably have to be," Chomiak said. "Investigators don't sort of grow on trees."
Chomiak said such a selection process may create a perception of bias, in that some of the officers in the unit would still be connected to the police service they're investigating.
"Clearly, when you bring in a rewrite of a police act, you cannot meet everyone's expectations, but to the extent that we were able to manage the various interests, I think that this act goes some way towards modernizing and producing a made-in-Manitoba model that we had promised after the Taman inquiry and that had been asked for in the AJI."
The act also creates a civilian-led Manitoba Police Commission to oversee policing issues throughout the province. Under the commission, civilian police boards will have the authority to hire and fire police chiefs and set the tone for policing in their respective communities. Besides Winnipeg, there are 10 municipal police forces. Only the Dakota Ojibway Police Service, the one aboriginal police service in the province, currently has a police board.
Police across the province, including RCMP, have been consulted for more than a year on the changes.
"This is something that has occurred across the country and I'm certainly supportive of," Winnipeg Police Service Chief Keith McCaskill said of similar changes in other provinces. "I think the act is long overdue."
McCaskill also said the proposed changes go a long way in boosting public confidence in police, something that sagged in recent years, particularly among aboriginal people.
Tory justice critic Kelvin Goertzen said the province should have gone further by also creating a police college so that every provincial law enforcement officer, including conservation officers, would be trained to the same standards. Currently, Brandon police and Winnipeg police train their own officers and officers working in smaller forces like Winkler. There are also private law enforcement academies.
Chomiak said he'd like to see the bill passed this year and the changes phased in as early as next year.
He also said it will likely cost millions to implement.
The outstanding question is whether the new Manitoba Police Commission and the special investigation unit will have any control over RCMP. The RCMP are a federally-regulated police service under contract with the province to provide police services.
Readers, this is certainly a better proposal than what Manitoba's current Law Enforcement Review Agency is all about that has an abysmal track record to match what it failed to do.
Many find the new act proposal does not go far enough because relationship bias in how the new organization will be staffed does not address impartiality far enough. However the most qualified investigators are generally found in either military,para-military settings, legal and quasi-legal settings therefore getting a balanced staff setting will not be an easy task. Seconding current police officers is the least favoured route as relationship bias is too easily courted in such selections, relationships die hard. What would be the relationship be when a seconded officer returns from the stint as an investigator under the new proposed act?
All food for thought as the legislation goes through its stages.