Edmonton police commission meetings will soon have tighter controls on public input.
The Edmonton police commission passed a motion during a Thursday meeting changing how the public can provide feedback after it said that comments from recent meetings from speakers were “defamatory, derogatory, and demeaning.”
The commission voted unanimously to support revisions to its public input policy, which includes changes like the executive director, Matthew Barker, having more oversight to filter and allow public presentations based on how relevant they are to the commission’s agenda items or mandate.
Presently, complaints about officer conduct, ongoing investigations, or legal proceedings are not topics for commission meetings.
Now, any speaking requests for the above matters must be denied by the executive director, according to the revisions.
A commission report for Thursday’s meeting said that allowing speakers to voice their thoughts on the aforementioned matters would open the commission to a “legal liability for not upholding the respectful workplace policy, OH&S regulation, Alberta Human Rights Act, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and other possible pieces of provincial and federal legislation.”
“All presenters will conduct themselves in a professional and courteous manner and will obey the rules of procedure or a decision of the chair,” according to new guidelines by the commission.
Anger from the public
Thursday’s meeting, along with the two previous meetings, have been held online.
A meeting on May 16 came shortly after Edmonton Police Service removed a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Alberta on May 11.
“The public meeting will be online only due to safety considerations,” according to a news release from the commission.
During the May meeting, EPS was heavily criticized by several members of the public regarding the use of force demonstrated by officers in clearing the People’s University For Palestine’s encampment.
On Thursday, the commission provided paraphrased comments from the public that it deemed offensive for a multitude of reasons including being targeted toward specific EPS and commission staff.
Administration did not provide exact quotes as they want to avoid causing further harm by repeating “egregious statements” according to the commission report.
Comments from the public include alleging that a member of the commission was racist and could not carry out their duties due to a conflict of interest and that EPS staff are “tone-deaf, skirting accountability, misleading and gaslighting the public, and are incompetent and dishonest in their reporting to the commission.”
Comments from the public were also levelled at EPS Chief Dale McFee, including ones saying “he is a political hire, he perpetuates ongoing genocide, that he is biased and has no integrity, that he is a liar, and that he is failing in his duties.”
“Other comments levied included allegations that officers were using heinous violence and barbarism and that they were an oppressive institution,” the report said.
Criticism from a speaker on Thursday said the new revisions will shut down conversation from the public.
“This document and the recommendations are severely lacking, and I think that the comments that were brought forward as proof that the public is bullying or intimidating or harassing commission and police is just input from the public, just here to talk about what we’re frustrated with,” said Katy Ingraham.
“To shut down conversation like that, to me, that’s completely undemocratic from a body who has expressed in front of council that they want to perform their unique role in governance.
“You cannot just pick and choose what you want to hear and what you don’t want to hear specifically.”
READ | Edmonton Police Commission report on motion revisions to public input policy