Image: New Brunswick RCMP/submitted
Proposed changes to the province’s Police Act are making their way through the New Brunswick legislature.
Bill 53, which is more than 50 pages in length, was brought before MLAs earlier this month and passed first and second reading.
Among the changes is a 180-day cap on paid suspensions for officers facing a complaint under the act.
Currently, officers can only be suspended without pay if convicted of a provincial or federal offence.
But few complaints should make it to the 180-day point, according to the association representing front-line police officers.
That is because changes are also proposed to the overall time limits for processing and arbitrating complaints.
“If all parties move in an expedited way, we believe that all matters can be handled within the 180 days that’s prescribed there,” said Bob Davidson, executive director of the New Brunswick Police Association.
Davidson said he is confident that complaints can be handled within 180 days based on conversations with the Department of Public Safety and the New Brunswick Police Commission.
The executive director said the proposed changes maintain the presumption of innocence for officers.
“We have our officers who encounter people who try to injure, maim, kill them, put in false complaints, so the presumption of innocence is very important for police officers in our society,” said Davidson.
After passing first and second reading, Bill 53 was brought before the Standing Committee on Economic Policy last week for further review.
Davidson said there should not be major opposition to this bill in the legislature.
“We believe that the discussions that have taken place with all parties should be recognized by all political parties,” he said.
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