Police under review
Summerside chief unsure of what police review recommendations mean for city
Summerside Police Chief Dave Poirier recently expressed his concern to city council regarding the provincial police review report.
For almost 40 years, Dave Poirier has been a member of the Summerside Police Department.
Now chief of police, Poirier wants to leave the department ready to face anything, as he nears retirement.
“In December 2016, the premier and the justice department released a police review report. This was the first report conducted in 42 years,” said Poirier. “Seventeen recommendations came out of the report. Ten of those recommendations are supposed to be acted on in the next 12 to 18 months.” The review was conducted by a national and international consulting company, which focuses on strategic planning. The initial report was presented to the province in July, but was sent back for further review.
P.E.I. Premier Wade MacLauchlan had called for the review “to find options for cohesive, integrated and efficient public safety services. Policing, fire and other public safety services that provide security to citizens from threats to their personal and economic stability.”
A recent statement by the provincial government said discussions surrounding the recommendations from police agencies are continuing and a final report incorporating the feedback will be released shortly.
In January MacLauchlan met with police partners to give them an update. “Government will be working with police and community partners in achieving our shared goals of community safety, officer safety and crime prevention,” read his statement.
“Together with police executives and municipal officials, government will begin work on the broad consideration and implementation of the recommendations from the review. “Working groups consisting of police, union and government representatives will also look at several specific recommendations from the review, notably in the areas of integrated communications and specialized police service teams,” noted the premier’s statement.
The province also indicated that the multi-party committees would be assembled in the coming weeks.
What’s concerning is the uncertainty we are facing, said Poirier.
“We’ve been told that the clock on these recommendations hasn’t started, which is a relief, because the committees that are supposed to be formed of police chiefs, unions, mayors and others also haven’t been formed.
“There’s a concern about job loss, even though the province has said that’s not its intent. There have been talks about a central dispatch system, but we don’t know if that would be housed in Charlottetown, if our dispatchers would have to move to Charlottetown or travel every day, or whether they’ll even be offered a job there.” The report recommended a number of police models used in other places across the country.
“There were two main models that they thought would be the best for us. One was the territorial mode, which is where the RCMP polices the entire province, and the other was based on Newfoundland’s police services, where Summerside, Kensington and Charlottetown forces would be disbanded and there would be one singular unit for urban areas and the RCMP would look after rural areas,” explained Poirier. “Our workers are obviously concerned and are waiting for what may or may not happen. I suspect that until we get those committees going we’re not going to know what we’re facing.
“We’re anxious to get on with this. I can’t assure my team what’s going to happen because I don’t know.”
For a complete list of the recommendations visit journalpioneer.com.