Calls to defund the police heard, debated in Kamloops

The idea of defunding the police is to reallocate the funds that would have typically gone to police.

Local lawyer Shawn Buckley says some of the matters that have become the responsibility of the police over time have had a negative impact.

“The idea, for example, of looking at mental health issues and how we fund them is really appropriate in British Columbia, because years ago we had structured it so we had way more community support and living arrangements and things like that, and we defunded, and the result was a percentage of those people got involved in the criminal justice system by default,” Buckley said.

Superintendent Syd Lecky of the Kamloops RCMP says he doesn’t find the term ‘defund’ appropriate. However, he doesn’t disagree with calls for more funding for community resources.

“I don’t want us to lose sight of the underlying issues,” Lecky said. “In our case — and certainly in my experience — the Indigenous issues that have brought us here today and how can we do a better job of bias-free policing? And, what services can we provide? We, being collectively, not just the police to try and improve the overall situation, funding and housing and all those other things that will help take the pressure off the rest of us.”

The City of Kamloops has a contract with the local RCMP of around $26 million.

Mayor Ken Christian says the reallocation of those funds to supports for mental health, substance abuse issues or poverty do not necessarily fall within the responsibilities of the city.

“We don’t hire social workers, for instance, we don’t have mental health workers,” Christian said. “So, it really is part and parcel of the province working with local governments to have a coordinated approach to these kinds of things. In Kamloops now we have our Safe and Secure Kamloops committee, which is exactly that, it’s a bunch of partner agencies working together to try to solve some of the hotspots that we have for street crime.”

While the calls to defund the police may be a bit louder in the United States, Meyers says they need to be heard here in Canada, too.

“Not looking on as Canadians and imagining ourselves to be somehow better than our American counterparts,” he said, “and also not to be vulnerable for speaking out and having people say that you’re anti-police or that you’re taking an unrealistic position.”

Lecky, however, feels it’s unfair to compare the local RCMP to police forces in the United States.

He says the RCMP have far more oversights than most professions.

“We have very good policies in place locally, divisionally, in the province and nationally,” Lecky said. “We also have civilian oversight with the CRCC, the Civilian Review Complaints Commission, we also have the Independent Investigations Office for the more serious files where people are hurt, we have Human Rights Tribunal, we have the courts, we have inquests with the Coroner’s Service, and if that wasn’t enough, and probably the most important for me is we have media.

“So we’re always scrutinized.”

Lecky adds he was mortified by what he has seen happen in Minnesota. He says the actions of officers there shouldn’t be seen as a reflection of the RCMP in Kamloops, but he sees the resulting protests as an opportunity to create conversation and education opportunities.

“There’s always people who are on the defensive when it comes to these things, but for me it’s really, hey, let’s grab the bull by the horns, now let’s talk about it. Why do people feel the way they feel? What can we do differently? What can increase police accountability?”

by Jill Sperling

Calls to defund the police heard, debated in Kamloops

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