Police board approves new policy manual

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This article was published 22/09/2022 (589 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Police Board approved a new set of policies and procedures at its latest quarterly meeting on Friday.

The 16-page document outlines the purpose and duties of the police board, the procedures for its meetings, how it will communicate with the public and the media, how it should manage its budget and finances as well as a code of conduct for its members.

Much of the text of the document, which was presented in public for the first time on Friday, is taken directly from or slightly modified from the Manitoba Police Commission’s policy and procedures guide.

The Brandon policy guide was approved unanimously by the police board with a couple of amendments.

A line under the section outlining the requirements for police board members was modified from “The board may give orders and directions to the police chief, but not to other police officers,” to “The board may give oversight to the police chief, but not to other police officers.”

Police board chair Deb Arpin has agreed to an interview with the Sun on Friday’s meeting sometime next week.

In other police board business, Brandon Police Service Chief Wayne Balcaen provided a budgetary outline, telling board members a deficit of $174,803 is being projected for 2022 stemming from an $89,909 deficit in the police operating costing centre and an $84,894 deficit for the police vehicles costing centre.

The deficit, he said, accounts for a decrease of approximately $116,000 in fine and ticket revenue and a $3,500 decrease in revenue from criminal record checks. However, BPS also expects $12,000 in revenue from people participating in training.

Expenses are also up too, approximately $175,000 over budget. Those, according to the chief, are made up largely of the increase in fuel prices this year, around $78,000, and higher than expected overtime costs, around $66,000.

Part of the reason for the extra overtime is medical leave. Balcaen said with medical procedures and elective surgeries happening more frequently after the worst of the pandemic, they’ve had officers nearing the top of wait lists.

While delivering statistics to the board, Balcaen said officers have removed 978.381 grams of drugs from the streets of Brandon so far this year.

Thirteen possession charges for meth have been handed out so far this year, with another 19 trafficking charges. The higher number of trafficking charges is an intentional decision to focus more on distribution of the drug, Balcaen said.

So far in 2022, Balcaen said BPS has received 25,534 calls for service, including 1,456 animal control calls and 378 bylaw-related calls.

In addition to the chief’s presentation, three BPS canine officers were brought in to educate the board on their duties, procedures and training.

Const. Adam Philpott, Const. Shaun Haggerty and Const. Justin Artibise spoke about what they do with their canine partners Zeus, Storm and Blink. They said Storm is the father of the other two, an unusual family relation for canine units.

They showed a training video depicting a simulated scenario where Zeus and Philpott try to take down a suspect holding what appears to be a metal rod. The person playing the suspect does not drop their weapon, and Zeus is commanded to attack them.

After Zeus bites the suspect, the suspect softly hits the dog with the rod. While it may seem harsh, Philpott said it’s to prepare for a scenario where someone with a weapon harms a police dog.

A second video showed Storm picking up the scent of someone playing the role of a fugitive suspect and pursuing them across a field, then through some trees.

A third video showed Blink practising search and rescue techniques on a course set up by the Office of the Fire Commissioner at Brandon Municipal Airport.

The terrain of the course was made up of broken vehicles, rubble and simulated destroyed buildings people can hide in for Blink to find, barking to alert her handler when she detects them.

Before adjourning, Arpin thanked Mayor Rick Chrest for his service at the last meeting he’ll attend as a member.

Chrest is retiring from politics as of election day on Oct. 26. Brandon’s new mayor will join the board on Dec. 2 for its final meeting of the year.

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