Police union top boss calls for resignation of civilian oversight chair

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — The Calgary Police Association has had enough and is calling publicly for the resignation of the chair of the Calgary Police Commission.

The commission, which is otherwise known as the civilian oversight body for the Calgary Police Service, has been chaired by attorney Brian Thiessen for almost two years.

Union boss Les Kaminski’s comments come just days after learning about the recent resignation of the CPS Chief Human Resources Officer, for reasons not being made public.

Kaminski says officer morale is at an all-time low and to see the head of HR and the second-in-command leave in such short order doesn’t make sense.

“Chair Thiessen says that full-on transparency and accountability within the Service is essential. Where is the transparency now?”

The long-time police officer says he was at first optimistic about Thiessen’s appointment, but over time concerns were ignored.

He told reporters he’s never seen the commission work so closely with the police executive, and as a result, he believes the association has been shut out.

“We need a commission chair who understands the job, which is to effectively oversee the chief. We need a commission chair who understands that the service, the association and the commission need to work together to address the crime challenges of our time with effective policing strategies.”

The resignation is just the latest in a string of departures within the HR department that led to Kim Prodaniuk of the National Women in Law Enforcement Association calling for exit interviews for the people stepping down.

Prodaniuk, an officer herself who has filed complaints alleging of poor workplace behaviour, accused the CPS of being unwilling to change the establishment behind closed doors.

While Chief Roger Chaffin didn’t commit to exit interviews, he told reporters he would reach out to the civilian who held the Chief Human Resources Officer position about why they decided to leave.

Thiessen told reporters on Tuesday, he was disappointed by the move and that the commission would be following up on the hiring process for a replacement.

“I think it’s a really encouraging thing that we have members of the public, that we have experts that attend our meetings and hold the commission service’s feet to the fire,” he said. “I was really excited to see that we had a Chief Human Resources Officer that was a civilian, that was reporting directly to the chief. I’m somewhat disappointed that we have to hire for that position again, in somewhat short order.”

He said they would continue to talk about it during the in-camera sessions with the chief and his team about next steps.

“Every organization has hiccups as they proceed through their reforms, CPS is no different,” he said.

In terms of who should replace Thiessen, Kaminski didn’t offer any suggestions, only telling reporters that it should be someone who understands the climate in the city and someone who understands policing.

The issue of human resource reform and workplace culture first publicly surfaced more than a year and a half ago after former constable Jennifer Magnus Ward used a commission meeting to resign.