Local politicians want to add their voices to the provincial conversation about police reform if the opportunity arises.
Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors discussed the idea of defunding or reforming police services at a policing committee held July 16.
The discussion was prompted by Black Lives Matter and other social movements calling attention to how policing bodies operate.
SCRD chair Lori Pratt said she would contact Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons, who is leading a special committee of the B.C. legislature looking into reforming the provincial Police Act. “I’ll reach out and just say that we are interested as a regional district and to keep us apprised as to when any opportunities for engagement occur,” she said.
The terms of reference for the all-party committee haven’t been finalized.
Also at the meeting was Sgt. Don Newman of the Sunshine Coast RCMP, who said despite scrutiny from the media, the local detachment has “seen a lot of positive support” from the community.
When asked what could be done at a local level, Newman raised the need for a civilian to manage volunteer public safety programs.
The RCMP is highly supportive of volunteer-run initiatives such as the Business Watch program, said Newman, but one of the biggest challenges, aside from liability, is managing them. On June 17, Sechelt council approved using $9,525 from the district’s public safety reserve to continue the Business Watch program until Nov. 1 and authorize using district staff to oversee the program.
“That’s where I think maybe the District of Sechelt, the SCRD maybe have a part in helping funding a non-police resource to help manage,” he said. The work that goes into coordinating as many as 80 volunteers is “daunting and it’s something we don’t have the capacity to absorb,” he said, adding, “Locally something like that would have an immediate benefit on the community and police in general.”
That request raised the question of whether the SCRD should create a new service geared towards funding social initiatives – something the board has discussed in the past. CAO Dean McKinley said they could fold the question into an upcoming strategic plan review session.
At the meeting, Sgt. Newman also noted that street checks have been down “significantly” this year – 60 per cent between April and June – as a result of changes to national policing policy. “That’s not a reflection of the work being done, that’s national policy,” he said. RCMP have also changed the way they record interactions with people as a result of a public complaints review.
He also highlighted a spike in commercial, “seasonal,” and construction site break and enters in Sechelt and rural areas since January. “We’ve been rocked pretty hard actually for the last six months and actually to be truthful the last nine months,” said Newman, adding that they did start to see declines in June. He said they have charged six people, which “is actually a fairly high rate.”
He also noted there has been a decline in ticketing drivers in part because there were fewer people on the road due to COVID-19, especially in March, but mainly because resources were diverted to investigating property crimes, “which took away from some of the proactive vehicle-related issues.” Newman said they expect to see more ticketing happen in the future.
