The outgoing chief of police in Kamloops, soon to be one of Canada’s highest-ranking RCMP officers, has taken some not-so-subtle shots at the justice system in B.C. and beyond, while praising the City’s Community Safety Officer program.
Syd Lecky, who is set to become the Chief Superintendent of the Northwest Territories, calls the CSO program “one of the best things to happen” over the last four-and-a half years.
“I know that has had some controversy in the community. It is not lost on us but I can tell you that it is from me, one of the better things that have happened for us,” Lecky said.
“I can tell you that the Community Services Officer program is one of those areas that I’ve been receiving inquiries from other communities asking ‘what are you guys doing there and how do you make that happen?'”
Lecky says the RCMP’s working partnership with the CSOs – formerly the Kamloops bylaw department – has taken a lot of pressure off of police officers.
“Our CSO leaders are in our meetings in the morning,” he said. “They hear on a real-time basis where our challenges are and we can plan as we have for some of the projects that we need them to work on, specific to maybe bylaw enforcement or dealing with effects of some of the clients we serve.”
Lecky says delegating some of those tasks -including things like traffic management – to CSOs, allows RCMP officers to focus on investigating crime.
“If we are tied up because we’ve arrested a homeless person or a street-entrenched individual for a warrant that’s been out for them, what do we do with the buggy that they’ve got? Or their personal effects?” Lecky said. “We can call a CSO to come over and transport those effects and hold on to them in a safe place until those individuals can retrieve them.”
Lecky fires shots at B.C. justice system in B.C.
Despite the positive feedback for the CSO program in Kamloops, Lecky also took some shots at the province around the status of the justice system.
Lecky says he wants people to understand the ways in which changes in justice reform and case law in B.C. have affected policing in the province. He says one of the most significant changes is an officer’s ability to perform street checks.
“Because the only reason we stop people now to check is usually for an investigation specific to whether it’s a report of a suspicious person or trespass by night or whatever the case may be,” Lecky said.
Lecky also points to federal hold-backs, such as Bill C-75, which gives those accused of crimes the right to “not be denied reasonable bail without just cause.”
“It impacted the bail specifically, how we deal with offenders that we would normally put more in restrictive bail conditions on, or hold in custody until court,” he said. “Those changes have resulted in more offenders out for longer periods of time.”
He says Bill C-75 is keeping more criminals on the streets by enshrining bail as a fundamental right, which he adds, has left detachments like Kamloops dealing with repeat offenders.
“Seven arrests, for the same offense, released to appear in court, and has not yet shown up in court,” he said.
Lecky – who addressed City Council for the final time this past Tuesday – said his successor – Inspector Jeff Pelley – is “the right person for the job.”
