Councillors seek more citizens on police board

One city councillor hopes a push for more citizen membership on Regina’s Board of Police Commissioners will improve community representation and diversity.

“One of the things I’ve heard is, ‘Why is there more elected officials on there than the general public?’” said Ward 4 Coun. Lori Bresciani in an interview Wednesday. “I felt really strongly that we need to enhance their voice by having more residents on the board.”

Bresciani introduced the idea through a notice of motion at Monday night’s city council meeting. It is also signed by fellow council member Andrew Stevens. Together they seek a report from administration that outlines the process for expanding board membership and looks at what other cities are doing.

Currently, Regina’s board is made up of the chair, Mayor Michael Fougere, two city council members — Barbara Young and Joel Murray — and two citizen members, one of which must be Indigenous. Currently, the two citizen members are Jada Yee and Vic Pankratz.

Bresciani says the research she’s done shows Regina is the last major Canadian city to have more elected officials than citizen members on its board.

“(The board) is kind of a buffer between the police and the general public, so you want to find a board that is equally in both of those,” said Bresciani. “That’s why I think it’s vitally important to seek that balance.”

Speaking after a Board of Police Commissioners meeting Wednesday morning, Fougere said he hadn’t given the motion much thought yet, as it is to be discussed at next month’s city council meeting, but that the system seems to work well as it is.

“Whether we need to rebalance the commission is something for discussion, but I think we need to be careful of the role of the city council related to the activities of the police service itself,” he said.

Bresciani and Stevens’ motion suggests the board could benefit from “the addition of community-based policing and justice experts,” but Fougere argued that is already happening through reports, letters, communication, delegations that present to the board.

“That information does flow right now,” he said, adding that between the board, the Saskatchewan

Police Commission and the Public Complaints Commission, there’s a significant amount of civilian oversight on activities of the police service.

In the end, he said it’s the board itself that should have the final say on its structure.

But it’s not just about oversight, says Bresciani, it’s about bringing in different perspective that may elicit different questions, rounding out the effectiveness of the board in truly representing its community.

“We want people … from all walks of life,” she said. “I think when we do that, we have a board that would represent our community.”

Increased eligibility and diversity across the city’s committees has become a priority for council this year. Bresciani said the Board of Police Commissioners shouldn’t be treated any differently.

“This is why I’ve asked for a report,” she said. “I want (administration) to do their due diligence to see what other cities have asked for on their board and then at least that’s a take-away for us to learn and decide what we want to do on ours.”

The motion asserts that Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Vancouver have Boards of Police Commissioners with 11, nine, seven and eight members, respectively, and all with a majority of citizen members.

“I do think that there’s great value in having, not just elected officials, but community officials on a board because they bring the perspective of the community,” said Chief Evan Bray on Wednesday. “I’m happy to work with whatever board we end up with.”

I think we need to be careful of the role of the city council related to the activities of the police service itself. MICHAEL FOUGERE