The New Westminster Police Department will be taking a seat on the city’s accessibility advisory committee.
On Jan. 30, city council considered a request to change the terms of reference of the accessibility advisory committee, increasing the number of committee members to 13 voting members and giving the NWPD a seat on the committee.
Coun. Tasha Henderson questioned why the police department is asking to join the committee.
When the City of New Westminster initially put together the committee’s terms of reference, the police department was still considering whether it wanted to join the city's accessibility committee or form its own committee, said city clerk Jacque Killawee.
“After the terms of reference were initially put forward and accepted by council, the police decided to join the city in its accessibility committee,” she said. “So, the accessibility committee will provide a plan that will cover both the city, the public library and the New West police department.”
Henderson questioned if it’s standard practice for members of the police department to serve on city committees.
“If it's appropriate, they do,” Killawee said.
Coun. Jaimie McEvoy said he recently had a conversation with Chief Const. Dave Jansen about how police would deal with people having different disabilities, medical issues or hearing loss.
“How would the police know, and what would be appropriate ways to deal with people experiencing different disabilities?” he said. “We've seen in the United States situations where someone who has a disability and isn't immediately compliant with the police officer's orders or something like that, and the police are trained to respond rapidly with violent violence to force compliance.”
In a 6-1 vote, council approved the changes to the terms of reference of the terms of reference of the accessibility advisory committee. Henderson voted against the staff recommendation.
In an email to the Record, Henderson explained why she voted in opposition.
“People with disabilities disproportionately experience police violence, and I am concerned that the presence of police on this committee may impact members’ participation and the accessibility of the committee overall,” she said.
Sgt. Justine Thom said the New Westminster Police Department is working to become compliant with the Accessible British Columbia Act.
“The provincial lead on accessibility recommended all municipal police departments, where possible, join with their cities on one accessibility advisory committee,” she said. “As such, we moved to join the City of New Westminster’s accessibility advisory committee.”
The police department has identified Hazel Fitzpatrick, a civilian volunteer and a wheelchair user, as its lead. Hailey Finnigan, a civilian employee, will have a support role.
“Access to the NWPD is important to us,” Thom said. “This is one of the ways we are working to improve accessibility and make the NWPD more accessible for all.”
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