Mayor Scott Aitchison updated Huntsville councillors at their March 27 meeting about the idea of creating a police services board.
He said Bracebridge Inspector Ed Medved and Huntsville Detachment Commander John Paul Graham attended the District’s Corporate Services Committee meeting and the concept was discussed in relation to a recent Globe and Mail investigative report that found that 55 per cent of sexual assault allegations brought to the attention of Huntsville police and 56 per cent of allegations brought to Bracebridge police were deemed as unfounded.
“And so you will recall we had some discussion about making sure the public is more engaged and… understanding why such a thing would happen and how we can improve upon that,” he said, adding that it was a helpful meeting. He also noted that Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith said it was difficult to know how police deal with such issues on the ground.
“We sort of agreed that the next step might be to actually have policing 101 training for District Council and I’m sure we could set that up in such a way that all members of all councils could come so we have a better understanding of how the OPP operate, what they do, certainly have some discussion around sexual assaults and how those are dealt with and what’s going on, on the ground,” he said. “We hope that will inform our next steps related to hopefully having a police services board and providing opportunities for this community to be more fully engaged in how we’re policed.”
Councillor Bob Stone asked the Mayor when the report regarding the reassessment of all those files is expected to be completed. Aitchison said he was assured it would be completed a couple of weeks ago and said that question was also asked at the committee meeting.
“They told us to expect it very soon now, maybe this week, but that we would be notified as soon as it’s ready so we can see it,” said Aitchison.
In general terms, police services boards are made up of civilians who oversee the provision of police services, under the Ontario Police Services Act, in consultation with chiefs of police or detachment commanders.
Find related Doppler stories at the links below:
Globe investigation prompts OPP to take a second look at how it handles sexual assault cases
It’s time to change the relationship with those who police us: Aitchison
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