Police Association of Ontario president slams Payette statement
Article content
The president of the Police Association of Ontario has weighed in on the drama surrounding Cornwall Police Chief Shawna Spowart.
PAO president Mark Baxter which represents over 28,000 civilian and worn police personnel across the province, on Wednesday called the first public statement by former Cornwall police services board chair Michel Payette, made earlier this week, “a self-serving attempt by the ex-chair to salvage Chief Spowart’s reputation.”
Payette early this week released a letter to the community, through several media outlets, which expressed strong support for the Cornwall police chief who two weeks ago went on leave. Payette said he wrote it to support Spowart, who “beyond her professional accomplishments serves as an inspiring role model for aspiring female law enforcement professionals.”
But Baxter, of Brantford, in social media commentary, came out swinging in support of the Cornwall Police Association, which had commissioned a research firm this spring to conduct an internal employee confidence survey – one that ultimately pointed to low morale and a perceived lack of leadership at the Cornwall Police Service.
Said Baxter: “The Cornwall Police Association continues to be in the best position to assess the chief’s performance and devastating impact on member morale.”
The PAO takes positions on various issues related to policing in Ontario and to its police personnel members, and often will write news releases, letters to the editor, and/or opinion pieces regarding those issues in order to build public and stakeholder awareness.
Baxter elaborated on his comments in an interview Thursday, saying, “in general, it’s important to get a better understanding of employee morale and views on chief performance and challenges faced at work if we truly want to make the work environment better for police members, and in turn, better for the communities they serve.”
Baxter said police boards evaluate the performance of the police chief and the deputy police chief, but it’s hard to do that because members are not in the workplace.
“We’re seeing this across the province, police boards are struggling to accurately assess the performance of police chiefs in the workplace so instead local police associations are conducting surveys of their members to determine the level of job satisfaction and allow for a forum to share any challenges they are facing at work,” Baxter said. “Once the data is collected, they then present the results with the police boards.”
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.