MHPS Chief Andy McGrogan reacts to news of the expedited Police Act review. (CHAT News photo).

By Alex McCuaig

Time is right for Police Act review

‘It’s about time,’ says MHPS chief on expedited Police Act review

Jun 9, 2020 | 4:30 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – It’s been two weeks since the death of George Floyd and subsequent charges of murder against a Minneapolis police officer sparking marches across the U.S., Canada and even in Medicine Hat.

The message of those marchers isn’t lost on Medicine Hat police Chief Andy McGrogan who says an expedited review of Alberta’s Police Act is a good place to start if law enforcement in Alberta is to be reformed.

“We need to get the bad officers out. They don’t need to be working here. It should be easier than any other profession. If a police officer is bad, he should be gone,” said McGrogan.

But the three-decade-old Police Act which governs discipline of law-enforcement in Alberta is outdated, said McGrogan, and the review of the legislation which began in 2018 is long overdue.

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“We need to get the bad officers out. They don’t need to be working here. It should be easier than any other profession. If a police officer is bad, he should be gone.” _{MHPS Chief Andy McGrogan.}

“It’s about time,” said McGrogan. “The Police Act is an antiquated piece of legislation that is basically an employment standards document (based on principles) from a hundred years ago that we are trying to apply to policing today.”

On Monday, Alberta Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer announced the Police Act review would now be expedited just as two RCMP officers in Whitecourt were criminally charged in connection with a 2018 shooting death.

McGrogan says he doesn’t agree with those calling for defunding police but he does with some of points those who are, are making.

“I agree that maybe there is another way that we can attend these mental health calls that are absolutely most of our work,” said McGrogan.

But McGrogan said he reviewed the calls for service over the weekend through the lens of those looking to reduce police involvement in keeping the community safe.

“There is no way you can send anybody other than an armed police officer to deal with somebody trying to slash their own throat with a razor blade, a very violent person trying to jump off a four-storey building,” said McGrogan. “But maybe there is a blended approach that makes more sense.”

The city’s police chief added that talk of change is no longer an option.

Nor is it to just, “say we need to defund police, I don’t think we need to defund police. We maybe need to move some resources around and have mental health professionals.”