There were some strong words from members of the Police Service Board discussing their relationship with the police union.
Chair Celina Reitberger put forward a motion to reconsider having regular contact with the Police Association about Board matters. If approved, the Board will contact the union to ask why they are not attending meetings. A vote to officially discuss the matter today failed, and it is instead coming back in December.
The Board has been asking the Association for updates since January.
Mayor Bill Mauro was among those who voted not to discuss it at this time, suggesting the police union “doesn’t see it as imperative” to attend.
That caught the attention of Board member Tom Lockwood, who says the Association is very interested in the Board’s activities and has met with him.
“I think it’s unfair to the Association, with respect, to put your point of view out when we have been proactive in meeting with the Association to get their point of view,” Lockwood asserts, noting he’s also gone on ride-alongs with police officers.
However, Mauro disagrees and suggests he’s displeased with the lack of updates he’s gotten from the Police Association.
“I’m glad that you’ve had your meetings with them, Mr. Lockwood, but I haven’t,” Mauro argues. “That’s simply the point– that they were to come and have a discussion with the Board, not [with] the ‘we’ that you’ve described.”
Board member Kristen Oliver emphasizes the Board shouldn’t give up on officially meeting with the Police Association.
“We have to have our fingerprints on everything that we do, and I think it’s imperative that we have those opportunities to have frank discussions in a public forum,” Oliver says, “and our community deserves that, and the Police Association deserves that, and so does the Board.”
