January 13, 2015 - Minutes

Date:

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Bill McNulty, Chair
Councillor Derek Dang
Councillor Ken Johnston
Councillor Alexa Loo

Absent:

Councillor Linda McPhail

Also Present:

Councillor Carol Day entered at 4:16 p.m.

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Community Safety Committee held on Tuesday, December 9, 2014, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING DATE

Wednesday, February 11, 2015, (tentative date) at 4:00 p.m. in the Anderson Room

LAW AND COMMUNITY SAFETY DEPARTMENT

1.

Community Bylaws Monthly Activity Report – November 2014
(File Ref. No.) (REDMS No. 4452080 v.4)

In response to queries from Committee, Ed Warzel, Manager, Community Bylaws, advised that (i) November 2014 was challenging with regard to enforcement activity due to staff shortages as a result of injury and a change in employment, and (ii) information concerning Richmond restaurant closures as a result of Food Safe concerns would be provided to Council.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled Community Bylaws Monthly Activity Report – November 2014, dated December 10, 2014, from the General Manager, Law and Community Safety, be received for information.

CARRIED

2.

Richmond Fire-Rescue – November 2014 Activity Report
(File Ref. No. 09-5000-01) (REDMS No. 4454913)

John McGowan, Fire Chief, Richmond Fire-Rescue (RFR), highlighted the RFR’s November 2014 prevention activity noting the preservation of 99.2% of total property value and static total call volume.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report titled Richmond Fire-Rescue – November 2014 Activity Report dated December 8, 2014, from the Fire Chief, Richmond Fire-Rescue, be received for information.

CARRIED

3.

RCMP's Monthly Report - November Activities
(File Ref. No. 09-5000-01) (REDMS No. 4443964 v.3)

Eric Hall, Inspector, Operations Support Officer, Richmond RCMP, commented that, although property crime has increased, Richmond’s statistics remain low in comparison to that of other Lower Mainland cities.

In response to queries from Committee, Insp. Hall provided the following information: 

§   

the location of break and enters are not identified in updates for reasons of privacy protection;

§   

the Richmond RCMP has a five member Property Crime Unit and a Quick Response Team that work closely with the Crime Analyst to review data in order to mitigate criminal activity; and

§   

regarding privacy, the risk tolerance level of local municipal police forces may vary from that of the RCMP’s.

It was moved and seconded

That the report titled RCMP’s Monthly Report – November Activities, dated November 26, 2014, from the Officer in Charge, Richmond RCMP, be received for information.

CARRIED

4.

Richmond RCMP’s Drug Awareness Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) Program
(File Ref. No. 09-5000-01) (REDMS No. 4359558 v.2)

Committee commended the Richmond RCMP for their efforts regarding the Drug Awareness Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program and requested that the report be provided to the Council/School Board Liaison Committee for information.

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the report titled Richmond RCMP’s Drug Awareness Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) dated November 27, 2014, from the Officer in Charge, Richmond RCMP, be received for information; and

(2)

That the report titled Richmond RCMP’s Drug Awareness Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) be provided to the Council/School Board Liaison Committee for information.

CARRIED

Councillor Day entered the meeting (4:16 p.m.).

5.

Auxiliary Constable Policy Changes
(File Ref. No. 09-5000-01) (REDMS No. 4460347 v.4)

Phyllis Carlyle, General Manager, Law and Community Safety, provided background information and advised that, in light of the policy changes, auxiliary constables are currently being given alternative work to perform; however, she noted that a full review of the auxiliary program may be required should the policy change require the direct supervision by one or more regular members for each duty.

Discussion ensued regarding (i) support for the auxiliary constable program, (ii) community benefits of auxiliary constables, (iii) potential financial implications, and (iv) the lack of consultation on the policy changes.

In reply to queries from Committee, Ms. Carlyle provided the following information:

§   

policy changes to auxiliary constable deployment will be raised at the upcoming Lower Mainland Mayors’ Workshop;

§   

under the current contract, insurance is the responsibility of the Federal Government; there is no indication that the policy change is a result of a claim;

§   

costs for additional policing at events organized by a private entity are collected from the organizers; additional policing costs associated with events organized by the City or non-profit events supported by the City would be the responsibility of the City;

§   

Members of Parliament do not set policing policy but rather provide professional guidance on such issues; provincial regulations are established by the Legislative Assembly;

§   

should the staff recommendation be approved by Council, the concerns identified in the staff report will be expressed in said correspondence;

§   

resource levels for the Richmond RCMP are currently under independent review; additional staff requests are submitted annually by the Officer in Charge for the detachment;

§   

clarification is being requested from “E” Division as to the final wording and impact of this policy change to the auxiliary constable program including the ratio, 1:1 or 1:30, between auxiliary and regular member; a staff report is anticipated to be provided at a future meeting.

Committee directed that the subsequent staff report include background information on whether other police forces in British Columbia (i.e., New Westminster, Delta, etc.) are affected by the policy change.

It was moved and seconded

That

(1)

the Commissioner of the RCMP be requested to reconsider the recent policy change in relation to the level of supervision of the auxiliary constables;

(2)

the Federal Minister of Justice be advised of the City’s request for such reconsideration;

(3)

the Local Government Contract Management Committee be requested to address the policy change;

(4)

staff continue to report on the impact of the policy change in relation to the auxiliary program; and

(5)

letters be sent to the Richmond MPs,  MLAs, and to the Minister of Justice.

CARRIED

6.

FIRE CHIEF BRIEFING
(Verbal Report)

(i)

Tree Chipping Event Update

Fire Chief McGowan commented that the annual Firefighters Charitable Society Drive-Through Tree Chipping event, held on Saturday, January 3, 2015 and Sunday, January 4, 2015 at Garry Point Park, raised approximately $8,000 and generated three bins of wood chips for the maintenance the pathways at the Richmond Nature Park. Also, he highlighted that an additional $300 was raised for the Richmond Food Bank through the sale of toques.

(ii)

Anti-Bullying/Pink Shirt Day

Fire Chief McGowan advised that, in support of Pink Shirt Day (Anti-Bullying) to be held on Wednesday, February 25, 2015, RFR and IAFF Local 1286 will be wearing the official pink T-shirt throughout the week of February 22-28, 2015 and staff will be conducting anti-bullying educational presentations at designated schools.

Committee thanked the firefighters for volunteering their time to run the tree chipping event and discussion ensued regarding issuing a press release on the event.

7.

RCMP/OIC BRIEFING
(Verbal Report)

None.

8.

MANAGER’S REPORT

(i)

Law and Community Safety Department Updates

Ms. Carlyle spoke of two upcoming Supreme Court of Canada rulings, noting that said information will be provided to Council, including any anticipated impact, as a result of the rulings, to the City.

Ms. Carlyle commented that efforts are still underway to obtain statistics from BC Ambulance Services related to medical calls where RFR is not notified due to current dispatch protocols.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (4:40 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Community Safety Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Tuesday, January 13, 2015.

_________________________________

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Councillor Bill McNulty
Chair

Heather Howey
Committee Clerk