File photo of LPS Chief Shahin Mehdizahdeh (Lethbridge News Now)

By Connor Gunn/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Lethbridge police chief addresses future of service in virtual town hall

Jun 16, 2021 | 9:32 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Lethbridge Police Service, along with the Lethbridge Police Commission hosted a Virtual Town Hall Meeting Tuesday evening to answer any questions the public may have.

Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh started off the town hall by providing statistics on crime trends in the city and stating that in 2020, crime was down in each part of the city.

The chief wants the LPS to move forward in the future with “intelligence-led policing” instead of normal patrols that the police would normally do.

Lethbridge police have faced criticism as of late. In March, Alberta’s Justice Minister Kaycee Madu ordered LPS to submit an improvement plan to address concerns around its operations.

Mehdizadeh addressed the improvement plan for Madu and said the biggest challenge the police have faced are the allegations of impropriety by the service and its officers.

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Multiple LPS officers have faced allegations of misconduct within the police service with five separate officers facing a total of 32 counts of misconduct.

READ MORE: Not guilty pleas from LPS officers facing multiple counts of misconduct

The five include Sgt. Jason Moulton, who pleaded not guilty to eight counts of professional misconduct, while Const. Keon Woronuk, Const. Matthew Rilkoff, Const. Derek Riddel and Const. David Easter each pleaded not guilty to six counts.

An updated action plan will be sent to Madu and the service has until June 25 to submit a revised document to the justice department.

Mehdizadeh was the special guest speaker at a virtual town hall hosted by the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce Tuesday morning.

During his presentation, he cited highlights included in the action plan that was submitted back in April.

READ MORE: LPS chief addresses Justice Minister’s dissatisfaction with service’s improvement plan

Mehdizadeh previously stated that “we are fully engaged on that front right now, trying to give him any piece of information that he needs in addition to what we’ve presented, which is really just diving down into the information we’ve given him.”

He explained that Madu’s letter asks the LPS to provide more information in certain specific areas, such as recruitment to the Lethbridge Police Service.

The “five pillars” that LPS is focusing on going forward include:

• Ethics and Accountability
• Leadership and Development
• Employee Wellness and Mental Health Education
• Database Access
• Communication Strategy

Many questions were asked of Mehdizadeh about the action plan and he didn’t have much of an update but says “the Police Commission and LPS are still working through details of the action plan and once those have been finalized, this can better be addressed.”

LPS and Chief Mehdizadeh finished off by thanking everyone who participated in the town hall and welcomes the public’s input through their survey, available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7FM5CKF through June 22, 2021.

READ MORE: Five LPS employees suspended with pay during internal investigation

READ MORE: LPS officer suspended for allegedly mishandling evidence

READ MORE: LPS officer suspended for “possible improper search of database”

The full presentation can be found here.