Police board split on policy
Chief angry about Norm Dorr’s address
The Hamilton Police Service’s board has decided to re-examine parts of its deputation policy after an angry letter from the chief and cries of censorship from a citizen barred from addressing its members Tuesday.
The decision — and surrounding debate — revealed a stark divide between the city appointees to the board (who defended public deputations) and the provincial appointees, who each supported the chief ’s criticism of allowing the offending address to the board.
That March deputation, from Norm Dorr, father-in-law of police shooting victim Steve Mesic, called for the resignation of Chief Glenn De Caire and outlined a list of police killings and crimes he said had caused De Caire to lose the respect of citizens and officers alike. (Police have been cleared by the province’s Special Investigations Unit in all of the deaths Dorr referred to, including Mesic’s.)
Dorr’s presentation sparked angry letters of complaint from De Caire and the Senior Officers’ Association. Dorr’s subsequent request to address the board again Tuesday was refused.
The chief ’s letters of complaint sparked an emotional response from board vice-chair Walt Juchniewicz, who had been singled out by the chief and accused of violating board policy and blamed for permitting Dorr to “malign members of this service.”
Juchniewicz, his voice slow and thick with emotion, said simply that he took “complete responsibility” for the decision to allow Dorr “to have his five minutes” and said he’d done so “out of respect to him and to the Mesic family.”
The loss of Steve Mesic — like the loss of a police service member — “is tragic and I take it to heart.”
But De Caire’s and the senior of- ficers’ displeasure with that one deputation should not be allowed to curtail deputations and “to erode the trust between this community and this police service,” Juchniewicz said.
The board decided deputations would be approved by the entire board — not just the chair as had been the case previously. They put off further discussions about the deputation policy to an upcoming governance committee meeting.