How chief’s contract spat turned ‘caustic’
Inside police chief’s surprising contract spat with oversight body
Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht emerged from his office on the fourth floor of police headquarters Tuesday, striding to a black office chair at the end of a conference table.
Flanking the chief were two embroidered Edmonton Police Service (EPS) crests — giant versions of the patches the city ’s 1,700-plus police officers wear on their shoulders. In front of him sat a group of reporters, beyond them a bank of TV cameras.
Knecht occasionally held such “coffee with the chief ” events with reporters to talk about policing issues. But this one, just days after Knecht and the Edmonton Police Commission revealed they were unexpectedly going to part ways, was different.
The chief, who has steered the EPS with little controversy for seven years, revealed frustrations with the police commission. He practically dished — at least by the typically staid, collegial standards of Canadian police governance.
“There was, I would say, more than tension,” Knecht said of the relationship between the commission and the service in 2017. “I think at some times the relationship was caustic, and that was troublesome … I think a lot of the conversation was around trust.”
People attending police commission meetings last year would have been hard-pressed to spot the tension Knecht describes. Current and former commissioners said they were confused by Knecht’s comments. In a tweet, former city councillor and police commissioner Michael Oshry said it was “totally inappropriate” for the chief to publicly discuss his contract and private commission meetings.
“This is a serious breach,” said Oshry.
Knecht was reluctant to provide specifics about the source of the tension. He suggested the commission had in some cases crossed the line between police operations and its rightful areas of authority, but did not cite specific cases. He was also careful to say the relationship has improved this year after the addition of four new commissioners (and, perhaps implicitly, the departure of others).
The news conference was all the more striking because Knecht has rarely if ever let on about any frustrations with his civilian bosses in seven years as police chief.
Knecht became Edmonton’s 22nd chief in June 2011 and in the eyes of many civic leaders delivered stability on the policing file — among the city’s largest budget line items. A former second-incommand of the RCMP, Knecht generally earned positive reviews from the public and even longtime police critics, including defence lawyer Tom Engel. His predecessors had served short and sometimes tumultuous terms — one, Fred Rayner, was even fired by the police commission.
Knecht’s current term was set to expire on Oct. 31, 2018. He told reporters he met with thencommission chairwoman Cathy Palmer and Tim O’Brien, her successor, in September about a new contract.
He was surprised to learn they were planning to start the search for a new chief and wanted him to announce that this term would be his last.
“At that time, I thought it was probably a little premature … I still had 14 months left on my contract,” Knecht said.
The police commission is comprised of two councillors and nine citizens appointed by council. Its purpose is to provide oversight and accountability of the police service and serve as a buffer between politicians and law enforcement.
Knecht policed 15 communities as a Mountie, but never had to work with a police commission. Still, he described as positive his relationships with the first two commission chairs during his term — Arlene Yakely and Shami Sandhu.
That changed in 2017.
“I can tell you 2017 was a very tough year,” Knecht said. “I would be shocked if those folks that are on the commission wouldn’t say that was a difficult period of time, certainly for folks that had been on the commission before 2017.”
Palmer, a management consultant with a background in health care, took over as commission chairwoman in 2016 and served through December 2017. Knecht did not specifically identify Palmer as the source of tension. But John Lilley, a former commissioner who stepped down in mid-February after losing the chairmanship election to O’Brien, told CBC that the chief and Palmer “didn’t get along too well, and things deteriorated as a consequence.”
“The fault lies on both sides, no doubt,” Lilley told the broadcaster. “But that’s when I say he was treated unfairly. I think it stems from that. It’s hard to be objective when you’re mired in the midst of some interpersonal conflict.”
Lilley declined to comment further when reached by Postmedia. Palmer declined to answer specific questions.
“I wish Chief Knecht all the best, he’s served Edmonton very well, I wish his family the best,” she said. “Other than that, I’m afraid I can’t comment.”
Knecht hadn’t announced his contract status in early 2018 when the police commission experienced major turnover. Four new commissioners joined and, according to Knecht, a number of staff departed, including executive director Gabrielle Battiste.
Battiste left the job in March after just over a year. No reason was given by the police commission. In a LinkedIn post, Battiste said she was taking on a new role “helping women in the workplace manage workplace stress — women who may feel left behind by the Me Too movement.” She declined to comment for this story.
Knecht felt it would be “unfair” for new commissioners to have to pick a chief without fully understanding the police service, and floated the idea of an extension to allow him to finish projects and tie up loose ends. “Nobody came to me and said we want to extend your contract or anything — it sort of evolved.”
He met with the chairman and vice-chairwoman in March and soon after offered June 30, 2019, as an end date. As far as he knew, that was agreeable to the commission. He was prepared to make an internal announcement, but was told to hold off until the full commission took a vote.
“So I just thought it was basically … a rubber stamp,” he said.
Instead, the commission came back with a March 30, 2019, end date. Knecht was “taken aback” with the three-month difference. He was also dealing with the stress of caring for his elderly father in hospital.
“So I said ‘OK, in the interests of the service and them moving forward with a new chief, I’ll bow out.’ ”
Coun. Scott McKeen, a police commissioner, said Knecht’s request for an extension came “out of the blue” after the chief spoke with Mayor Don Iveson. The commission had already started work planning a search for a new chief, he said, but agreed to discuss an extension.
Murray Billett, a commissioner before Knecht’s term, said the spat has been an unfortunate capper for a chief who did a “pretty damn good job” leading the police service.
Billett said as a former Mountie, Knecht may have chafed at “the intricacies and the importance of civilian oversight, because the RCMP doesn’t have that.”
“The reality is the chief reports to the commission … and if the chief ’s timeline didn’t line up with the commission’s … well, the police commission’s in charge,” he said.
Maurice Brodeur, the former police union president who in 2016 publicly clashed with Knecht’s leadership, said personalities likely played a role.
“I thought I would be able to have a good relationship with the chief, but that too became caustic,” said Brodeur. “To see him complain about a caustic relationship with the police (commission) … At what point in time do you look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, maybe it’s me?’ ”
The fault lies on both sides, no doubt. … It’s hard to be objective when you’re mired in the midst of some interpersonal conflict.
Whether the past week overshadows Knecht’s term — or the national search for his successor — remains to be seen.
Knecht, 61, was careful to say he’s not retiring from policing. He was asked if after the service’s handling of the Sept. 30 truck attack, counter-terrorism consulting might be in his future.
“I think there’s lots of opportunity out there,” he said.
McKeen and Coun. Sarah Hamilton, another commissioner, said they were both surprised the chief felt the relationship was caustic. McKeen felt Palmer’s term was “extremely professional.” He added the commission asks tough questions, but he “never saw it degenerate into anything that was less than civil.
“I think the commission holds Chief Knecht in really high esteem,” McKeen said. “I’m really surprised and a bit upset to hear him use a term like caustic. Because I thought both sides were being really professional all the way along.”