Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association Calling for More Representation on Police Board

Local organization is calling for Niagara Region Council to include more civilians, especially people of colour, to the police board

The Niagara Region Anti Racism Association is encouraging Niagara Region Councilors to add more police board members who are Black, Indigenous, and people of colour. 

The group has written a letter to the police board's selection committee, asking them to consider applicants of colour who have never been police officers. 

Association member Saleh Wazzirudding says more needs to be done to ensure adequate representation on the board.

"We want the selection committee to give extra consideration to people who have never been police officers, so that there's fully civilian oversight, and also for those who have been police officers to give extra consideration to people who are BIPOC, especially people who are Black or Indigenous, because we're not represented on the police board. 

He says the committee could attract candidates through proactive outreach. 

The full letter is available below. 

Re: Open letter on public representative appointment to Niagara Regional Police Service Board

Dear NRPS Board Public Representative Selection Committee members Councillors Chiocchio,
Ip, Steele, Foster, and Sorrento,

We urge you to give extra consideration to applicants for public representative appointment to the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) Board who are fully civilian, i.e. have never been a police officer. This is in line with the principle set out in the 2007 Ontario Independent Police Review Act that the province's Independent Police Review Director must never have been a police officer. While the Act does not govern your selection of the public representative, we believe the principle set out in the Act will make the oversight of the NRPS more fully civilian which is desirable.

We also urge you, within the pool of fully civilian (i.e. never have been a police officer) applicants, to give extra consideration to BIPOC, especially Indigenous and Black, applicants as these communities are not currently represented on the NRPS Board, and haven't been for some time. These communities are more than 16% of the Region's population according to the 2021 Census.

Only a minority, three members, of the NRPS Board are accountable to voters as elected officials. The public representative is the only other member chosen by the Region's elected officials. Past public representatives, and even many Regional Councillors appointed to the Board, have been former police officers. To truly give an outside and fully civilian oversight to the NRPS, this opportunity to have a Board member who is appointed locally but not a municipal official or employee must not be missed to appoint someone who has never been a police officer, and who is BIPOC.

Perhaps there are not any strong applicants who have never been police officers, and who are not BIPOC. There may be a misperception that one needs to have been a police officer to be qualified to serve on the Board. Because of the shortfall in racial diversity among police officers, in comparison to the diversity of the community, this will also discourage BIPOC applicants. We believe it doesn't need to be this way and should be remedied in the future by proactive public recruitment to attract more candidates who are fully civilian and BIPOC. Regional Council can do better in its selection.

Thank you,
Saleh Waziruddin
Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association (executive committee member)

The Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association was founded in the summer of 2018 and campaigns on police reforms, municipal anti-racism committees, employment equity, organizes speaker series and workshops, and supports individuals under racist attacks.