WPS chief seeks ‘greater clarity’ in Police Services Act By: Ryan Thorpe Posted: 7:00 PM CST Friday, Dec. 7, 2018

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/12/2018 (2465 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police chief Danny Smyth says he has been in talks with the provincial government about its pending review of the Police Services Act and expects it to take a look at revamping the rules governing the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba.

Smyth, who has led the Winnipeg Police Service since November 2016, said he would welcome the review — expressing hope Friday it could lead to clarity on some issues that have created tensions and disputes between the city force and the police watchdog.

“One of the things I talked about was just having some greater clarity in the (Police Services Act). Right now, particularly with the IIU regulations, it’s very focused on police officers, and it didn’t expand on that to include peace officers, which would include people like our cadets,” Smyth said.

The Police Services Act is the provincial legislation governing both the WPS and the IIU.

Smyth’s comments came in the wake of an eight-month Free Press investigation into the relationship between the two agencies. A series of freedom-of-information requests produced hundreds of pages of IIU documents and correspondence that served as the backbone for the project.

The documents revealed numerous roadblocks thrown up by police, both individually and institutionally, that have undermined the IIU’s effectiveness, including repeated disputes over jurisdiction.

One example, among many, involved Smyth blocking a request to interview a WPS cadet for an investigation into a police-involved shooting.

Despite IIU civilian director Zane Tessler’s desire to interview the cadet for the sake of the watchdog’s investigation, Smyth asserted cadets fall outside the scope of the Police Services Act, and therefor the IIU has no right to involve them in its probes — even when they’re eyewitnesses to possible criminal misconduct.

“I’m certainly open to (cadets) being included in that, but right now it’s not clear to me whether (they were left out of the legislation) deliberately or if it was an oversight,” Smyth said Friday.

“One of the things (the legislation) provided for them, was they recognized there would be gaps and a review would be necessary… We’re actually a bit over five years now. I’m encouraged the province is committed to reviewing that and maybe addressing some of these.”

As a result of the Free Press series, some politicians, such as Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont, called for an overhaul to the Police Services Act in order to sharpen the IIU’s teeth.

During the annual speech from the throne, Lt.-Gov. Janice Filmon announced the provincial government’s intention to begin a review of the act, although no specifics were given on whether that would specifically include a closer look at the IIU.

In an internal memo sent to all WPS officers in the aftermath of the Free Press series, Smyth repeatedly took issue with the reporting, claiming it sought to “undermine trust in the police.”

Nonetheless, he also highlighted the need for certain reforms to the legislation governing the WPS and the IIU that had been brought to light.

“I recognize that there are gaps in the Police Services Act that require amendments… Perhaps (Manitoba) Justice officials will now be motivated to consider changes to the act to address these gaps,” Smyth wrote.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Head Start

Weekday Mornings

A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day.

Sign up for Head Start

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.