The Edmonton Police Commission should ask the Edmonton Police Service hard questions about the recent deaths of a robbery suspect and a bystander, says a criminology professor who studies civilian oversight of the police.
"The commission cannot simply accept whatever explanation they've been given," Temitope Oriola said of the Feb. 23 shooting, in which police killed the resident manager of a Central McDougall apartment complex as well as a man said to have an imitation firearm. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is investigating.
Oriola said the police commission should "invite the police to come speak with Edmontonians about what happened and what they're doing to ensure that such an incident never repeats itself."
This would be a departure from the way the police commission has been performing. Oriola took exception to an opinion piece written by police commission chair John McDougall and published before a Feb. 17 public meeting where several members of the public raised concerns about how the police were dealing with the convoy protests. That meeting fell short of expectations from those hoping for the commission to hold police accountable.
"I would have expected a much more robust public forum, and not an overly or excessively moderated discussion where people don't feel like what they've said is actually being heard," Oriola said on Episode 168 of Speaking Municipally, Taproot's civic affairs podcast. "And certainly, the police commission cannot be on the defensive when the police are being criticized by members of society, because, in fact, that is the job of the oversight agency."
Oriola, who was named a special adviser to the province in 2021 to assist in its review of the Police Act, said one of his recommendations was to have police commissions have a more explicitly supervisory role.
"While it does not have to degenerate into adversarial relationships, it cannot be one of just unquestioned loyalty or obedience where no one knows who is actually in charge."
University of Alberta associate professor Temitope Oriola's research focuses on policing and the use of force by police, terrorism studies, and resource-related conflict. (Centre for Criminological Research)
The Edmonton Police Commission typically has two city councillors as members, with councillors Anne Stevenson and Sarah Hamilton currently filling those roles. Oriola said his research indicates there are better outcomes when members of the civilian oversight body are neither politicians nor people with a background in the military or law enforcement, citing countries in northern Europe that have moved toward such a model.
He encouraged citizens to stay engaged, as better oversight will ensure the safety of both the public and police officers. "Much of what counts as police problems are in fact oversight problems because there's no real, independent supervision going on. That's unfortunately why we have some of the outcomes that we have."
Speaking Municipally also took a look at integrity commissioner Jamie Pytel's dismissal of a code of conduct complaint lodged against Coun. Michael Janz by Edmonton Police Association president Michael Elliott.
Among other things, the complaint criticized Janz for "publicly 'liking' social media posts from known critics of the Edmonton Police Service who are known for misrepresenting facts about the Edmonton Police Service and its members." Co-host Troy Pavlek's tweet about that line created quite a stir, prompting the Edmonton Police Service to clarify that it "does not maintain a list of alleged police critics."
The public reaction to Pavlek's tweet reveals widespread frustration that no one is holding the police accountable, said co-host Mack Male.
"One of the smallest, simplest ways that (people) can try to contribute to holding them accountable is to use these democratized means of information-distribution that we call Twitter and social media and post something about it ... So I think it is really about accountability at the end of the day, and that's what people are looking for here."
Hear more about these issues on Episode 168, as well as a preview of the March 8 special council meeting on the city's mask bylaw, which the province wants to see lifted.