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Thunder Bay 'could be a leader' in community-police relations: review advisor

The Independent Police Oversight Review wrapped up two days of local consultations on Wednesday. Its facilitator was struck with the city's potential to improve police-community relations.

THUNDER BAY – The facilitator of a review into police oversight believes Thunder Bay could become a leader in community-police relations.

Independent Police Oversight Review strategic advisor Pamela Grant spent two days in the city meeting with Indigenous and racialized peoples as well as representatives of the Thunder Bay Police Service.

Grant observed the pieces needed to change the city for the better are already in place.

“There’s a lot of goodwill in terms of working collaboratively and keeping open communications among the stakeholders and a sense that Thunder Bay is in a place—and probably has been for a while—that there’s an opportunity to make the kinds of changes that are needed. And I think it could be a leader, even,” she said. 

The three organizations that are mandated to keep police transparent and accountable in Ontario are themselves being evaluated on their transparency and accountability.

Justice Michael Tulloch is leading the review into the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) and the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC). Thunder Bay is one of 19 consulting stops on their provincial tour. He will write a final report on their findings by Mar. 31, 2017.

Tulloch framed the review he’s leading as a matter of public confidence.

“Unless the public has confidence in the institutions we’re all subject to, we do not have true order and democracy,” he said.  

“So the police, that is a part of our community and society that is tasked with keeping law and order in our society. They operate at the behest of the confidence we all have in them as citizens.”

Counsel to the Independent Reviewer Danielle Robitaille said preliminary findings are showing the public believes changes need to be made to the province’s complaint system.  

“If a citizen has a negative interaction with a police officer or is left with a bad taste in their mouth after an interaction, there are barriers to lodging a complaint with the OPIRD,” she said.

“The fact that there are few complaints to the OPIRD may not speak to a lack of negative experiences. That’s one of the things we’re investigating: what are the barriers to launching a complaint against a police officer, if any?”    





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