After being shorthanded for several months, all of the seats on the New Westminster police board have been filled.
New West resident Heather Boersma is the latest appointee to the police board, coming soon after Shirley Heafey was sworn in as a member of the board in May. They join Karim Hachlaf and Sasha Ramnarine on the police board, which is chaired by Mayor Jonathan Cote.
“It’s nice that with Shirley and Heather joining the board, we are now have a full board. Welcome Heather. We are looking forward to working with you,” Cote said the July police board meeting. “As you can probably imagine, there is a lot of really important work that we are engaging in, and challenging work related to policing. We are looking forward to having you being a part of the board and being able to contribute to our team here.”
Boersma said she’s lived in New Westminster for most of her life, and is proud to be joining the police board.
“I am excited to take part as a member of the board and work with the team on the important work that is occurring in New West,” she said.
The police board provides oversight and direction to the New Westminster Police Department.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Westminster police board has been meeting virtually on Zoom.
Cote said the various boards and groups he’s involved in are all doing slightly different things in terms of meetings, with some moving to in-person meetings, some continuing to meet online and others offering a hybrid of in-person and online meetings.
“Obviously there’s a whole suite of different options that organizations are testing out,” he said. “I would definitely say there would be value in getting the board back in person. Half of the board is completely new since we have been meeting online, so it would be nice to connect and meet people in person. But that doesn’t necessarily mean all meetings have to be in person.”
Hachlaf said he’d like to see the board adopt some type of hybrid model, noting, for example, it may make sense for special incamera meetings to be held virtually.
“I think that not only offers a level of convenience, it can be highly efficient and productive to get us together quickly when needed,” he said.
Heafey agreed.
“I am in favour of a mixture of virtual and in-person,” she said. “In-person would be very nice so we could all meet each other and get to know each other a little bit. And also have the Zoom meetings. I am in favour of a hybrid style.”
Chief Const. Dave Jansen will report back to the police board with some options at its September meeting, which will be held on Zoom.
Follow Theresa McManus on Twitter @TheresaMcManus
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