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| NEWS > 05 June 2009 |
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Edmonton Sun - Alberta, Canada
05 June 2009
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Edmonton Police Service, AB
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Police chief targets cursing
If words are weapons, city cops have been disarmed by their own chief.
In his ongoing effort to “professionalize” the force and shine up its “tarnished” image, Chief Mike Boyd has outlawed swearing while on duty.
The department previously had a policy that specifically allowed them to cuss in certain circumstances.
Boyd recently replaced it with zero-tolerance for foul language.
“I don’t believe police officers should have a policy that enables them to swear,” he told Sun Media. “In my view, when you have a police officer swearing, that’s an example of ratcheting things up, to escalate. I think it has an influence on what bystanders think about the police. They don’t expect to hear that kind of language from a police officer.”
Off-colour language might offend the sensibilities of the general public, countered the head of the cops’ union, but sometimes a strategically timed oath is the best way to get control of a criminal.
“You have to think of the people we work with,” said Sgt. Tony Simioni. “We always strive to use professional conduct, but sometimes (swearing) is necessary to get their attention. There’s a time and a place for everything.”
While many rank and file cops don’t like the gag on cussing, Simioni said, “it is what it is.”
Boyd has also imposed a strict dress code on plainclothes officers.
They must wear a jacket and tie, unless their duties require other attire, like cops doing undercover or surveillance work.
A few years ago Boyd also ordered all uniformed cops to wear their hats when on foot, a move he says makes them much more visible to the public.
Since he became chief in January, 2006, Boyd’s mission has been to bolster morale within the ranks and improve its public image.
Prior to Boyd, who was a deputy chief in Toronto, the EPS went through a string of chiefs who left the force under clouds of controversy.
Several high-profile scandals and accusations of wrongdoing by cops — some of which proved groundless — further eroded the force’s image.
Boyd said the Edmonton Police Service has an “incredible reputation nationally and internationally,” but in the early part of this decade “something started to tarnish a little bit.”
He said the members “lived through a tumultuous time when they were concerned about the reputation of the organization they were working with. I’m trying to polish the image of the Edmonton Police service to the way it’s always been.”
At the same time, Boyd began instituting changes to the way the police do their jobs, introducing new information technology, new ways of patrolling the streets and reorganizing the force.
The most controversial change has been the way the force handles allegations of police misconduct.
The union charges that management is too quick to send complaints to a disciplinary hearing. Simioni says that many recent cases could easily have been resolved informally, instead of dragging officers through a costly, time consuming and embarrassing hearing.
He also charges that management is so consumed with appearing transparent to the public that they’re now taking detectives off regular duties to investigate internal files.
“We’re all for proper accountability,” Simioni said, “but what’s the greater public risk, police officers or criminals? We’re not the threat here, fellas.”
Boyd argued that it seems like a lot of Edmonton cops are brought up on charges because several old cases are finally working their way through the system.
“It’s unfortunate,” he said. “But I’m also not going to turn a blind eye to allegations of misconduct.”
He also pointed out that public hearings give cops wrongly accused “the chance to get their stories out.”
Boyd said that in the past three years, the force has “really turned things around the corner,” estimating that it’s 80% of the way back to where it should be.
“We may have had a community trust issue a few years ago, but I think that because of the work the community is seeing demonstrated daily (by police), that confidence is coming back,” he said.
Simioni doesn’t think morale among cops has improved much. “That’s not my sense.”
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