What Devon Clunis leaves behind

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/03/2016 (3662 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police Chief Devon Clunis was clear on Thursday the reason he is stepping down after just 31/2 years is because he’s done what he set out to do — mission accomplished. The mayor and chairman of the police board were more than congratulatory on a job well done. And there is no doubt that Mr. Clunis has left his mark, with his refreshing talk of re-imagining what police work is all about.

That talk was about seeing the work of officers in a different way. It is not, Mr. Clunis made clear when he took the job in 2012, just a crime-fighting job, but a pursuit of social inclusion, cutting poverty and the marginalization at the root of crime. Police are part of the community and cannot get the work done without the buy-in of people in the neighbourhoods, especially those where crime was high.

Community engagement and building trust in the neighbourhoods have long been part of the mission statement of the Winnipeg Police Service. Chief Clunis made it a priority, and reframed policing as social development. Much of the root of crime is about social malaise; the gap in rates of health, income and education between the city’s core residents and those in the suburbs underscores a socio-economic and racial divide. Mr. Clunis never shied away from speaking about the racial schism in the city, the high rates of violence against indigenous women and girls. This man of prayer who became a cop to inspire children from minority groups helped make all of it part of the public discourse on crime. He is to be thanked for that.

But he is mistaken to believe all his goals have been met.

Aboriginal people distrust police because their neighbourhoods can be dangerous places, and grievances persist about racial profiling by police. There is also a long-standing belief that the Winnipeg Police Service has been slow to act on reports of missing aboriginal women, to put as much weight behind those homicide investigations as they do with non-aboriginal cases. Is he suggesting police no longer are greeted with silence when asking for help in those areas?

Mr. Clunis can point to at least one case with pride. The police handling of the murder of young teen Tina Fontaine seemed to crystalize his approach: It was compassionate, involved the family and the investigation was dogged. What it demonstrated was progress. Still, distrust lingers and there’s a lot more road to travel.

And then there’s the budget. The police chief committed last year to cutting crime by 25 per cent in this city in four years, while holding the WPS budget hikes to rates at or below inflation. The police budget this year is set to rise at triple the rate of inflation. The police board has been told to pare it back, sparking a showdown Friday when the board dug in its heels. The chief was adamant Thursday the pending cuts played no role in his retirement, yet on Friday he fought back. He accused board chairman Scott Gillingham, who opposes the board’s position, of having a conflict and said the board’s structure needs to change. Not a quiet exit.

Mr. Clunis said while his “purpose has been fulfilled,” talk of legacy will be left to others. That’s a smart move. There are unanswered questions, specifically in the RCMP’s investigation into the construction firm’s alleged fraudulent billings on the new police headquarters. Mr. Clunis refused to take questions on that file Thursday, saying that was for another day.

There is unfinished business on the desk of the chief, who says he’ll stay on until his successor is chosen. The record is waiting to be written. Mr. Clunis, by example, made the WPS a part of reckoning about race in Winnipeg. That was leadership, to be saluted.