David Hickey is a councillor for Ward 3. (Image: Danielle McCreadie)
A city councillor is speaking out against the lack of reporting from the Saint John Board of Police Commissioners.
David Hickey, councillor for ward 3 in the south end, says a two-page report released ahead of this week’s board meeting was “disappointing” given the force’s $26-million budget.
One of the issues Hickey had with the report was the inclusion of “increased community engagement” as a current issue facing the police department.
“The conversations that we in this community and we in society as a whole are having are positive steps, that better support our community, and ultimately shape policing in a way that better suits the community,” Hickey said.
Conversations on social media have gained steam around the Saint John Police Force’s historical and ongoing response to sexual assault claims.
Hickey says residents have been forced to turn to social media to call for police transparency, as it’s been the only way they’ve had their voices heard.
“I think it speaks to the overall challenge the police department is facing right now,” Hickey said. “Which is working with the community to develop measurements of accountability that are fair, adequate, and respect the need for community engagement in this process.”
Hickey is disappointed with the lack of due dilligence put into the report. He believes a semi-annual report should be more detailed, but said he defers to city staff on how the reporting should be done moving forward.
The councillor’s hope is that moving forward, the police board will report more openly with city council, or implement a more “robust” system of accountability. He would also like to see public input being taken into consideration in order to establish more public accountability framework.
Hickey says his ward has a child poverty rate of 50 per cent, and that statistically that is the most policed demographic.
“If the police force in general can’t have a continued conversation around the issues of our community is facing as a whole, and how we can more holistically address those services, I need to bring that up, otherwise I’m doing a significant disservice to the people in my ward,” said Hickey.
Earlier this week, the police force announced the implementation of body cameras, which Chief Stephan Drolet said is about “increasing transparency and further enhancing the forces investigative abilities.”
Hickey says he is in support of the purchase, which represents the “incremental change” needed.
“Hopefully we can continue that dialog, to see how we can continue to challenge the status quo within policing in this community, and how can we make sure we’re doing a better job in supporting the community while doing so?”
$26 million is spent on @saintjohnpolice annually, and the semi-annual report is 2 pages.
This can’t be good enough. pic.twitter.com/TimUd3aWzE
— David Hickey (@DavidHickeySJ) July 20, 2020
