Police chiefs fear possible political interference from the Minister for Public Security if the reform of the police law is adopted in its current form.
The director-general of the Association of Quebec Police Directors (ADPQ), Didier Deramond, expressed this “discomfort” to lawmakers on Wednesday, during the second day of special consultations on Bill 14.
“The bill opens the door wide for the minister to enact regulations on all aspects of policing,” he said in an interview.
Police chiefs’ fears relate to a specific section of the bill that says the minister could issue guidelines “relating to all matters relating to police activity”.
“This practice opens the way for politicized regulation and obviously for potential interference,” worried ADPQ President Pierre Brochet, who believes that it is better “not to legislate that opens doors to interference with police independence”. .
It should be noted that the draft law stipulates that the ministerial directives may not refer “to a specific investigation or police intervention”.
operations
When asked for examples of the possible form this interference in policing might take, Mr Brochet mentioned the possibility for the Minister to ban a specific use of force in response to a media event.
“Imagine the impact on police operations!” he said in an interview.
“The gases as part of the protests, the taser gun… these are tools as part of a continuum. We don’t use it for everything and for nothing,” added Mr Deramond.
In front of the parliamentarians, Mr Brochet put on his white gloves and assured that he did not believe that the current elected officials could make improper use of the provisions of the draft law and stressed that we do not know what could happen in government in a few years will be.
Consequently, the ADPQ is requesting the withdrawal of this article from the bill. “But if the government goes ahead despite everything, we want to be consulted before developing any policy that affects policing,” said Mr Brochet.
Punish
Bill 14 also provides for changes in the ethics committee, including new sanctions such as community service. “It sends a funny message to the police, these are phrases that we see in criminal cases,” explained Pierre Brochet.
Like the Brotherhood of Police Officers, the Sûreté du Québec and the SPVM, the ADPQ argued that it is the responsibility of police forces to monitor their employees, not the ethics commissioner, and that this must not change.