Whether Richmond bylaw officers will become peace officers is still unclear.
The item was on the agenda for Tuesday’s community safety meeting, but was pulled off and placed into a closed meeting for discussion.
City staff, however, in a report to the committee, didn’t recommend this change in bylaw officer status.
But Coun. Kash Heed, who originally brought up the possibility, didn’t agree with the staff recommendation, noting bylaw officers in most Metro Vancouver municipalities are peace officers.
Heed also told the News he took issue with the discussion taking place in a closed meeting, saying it seems it was done “because that’s the way it’s always been done.”
Normally, items that deal with labour, legal or land issues are moved into closed meetings.
Citing the Community Charter, which sets out the legal framework on how municipalities are governed, Heed said, in his opinion, nothing justified having the discussion in a closed meeting.
The city clarified that the rationale for having the item in a closed meeting was because it dealt with labour relations or other employee relations.
Heed said he hopes the final decision on bylaw officers – which he can’t disclose because it was in a closed meeting – will be made public at some point.
Transit Police hiring safety officers
Giving bylaw officers the status of peace officers is just the first step in what Heed envisions as a “tiered” policing system, and next he wants to explore the city hiring community safety officers.
This is something Transit Police is in the process of doing.
Metro Vancouver Transit Police will be getting 24 community safety officers as a pilot – 12 will be hired this year.
Transit Police Chief Officer Dave Jones was at Tuesday’s meeting, and outlined how the community safety officers will support Transit Police.
These officers can enforce transit conduct regulations, issue some tickets and help at community events.
“This is an unarmed level of service that’s meant to complement the policing that we do,” Jones told the committee.
Community safety officers can also provide services like relieving general duty officers when they have to wait with a patient at the hospital, Jones explained.
Richmond RCMP officers waited an average of 92 minutes at hospital with who were apprehended after a mental-health call. In January, there were 70 such police apprehensions, according to the report going to the community safety meeting.
The transit community safety officers don’t carry a gun or Taser, but they are equipped with handcuffs, pepper spray and batons.
