Police report buried

An investigative report into the Miramichi police requested in 2004 by Miramichi’s city council, which has sat untabled for the past six months has been buried, once and for all.
Council doesn’t plan to discuss the report publicly, Marty McIntyre, the chair of the city’s police committee told this newspaper.
The report, which has languished on the mayor’s desk since June, was never released to the public or discussed in session by council. Now it looks like it never will.
"No, probably not," McIntyre said. "It’s gone as far as it’s going to go as far as I’m concerned."
In September of 2004, the investigating body, namely the New Brunswick Police Commission, was ordered by Miramichi’s city council to look into the effectiveness and efficiency of the police force.
In an interview last year, Mayor John McKay said the investigation was not necessarily a negative reflection on the force.
"I think we have a very good police force, but I think that such an investigation would be welcomed by the community to help put to rest a lot of concerns that both the police have and the community has."
The council got the report from the commission in June. Later in the month, so did the Miramichi Leader, which published the following five recommendations included in the report:
• that the chief of police and council work toward a common goal
• that the chief delegate more responsibility to his management team
• that the chief attend as many police committee meetings as he can
• that the police committee chair (Marty McIntyre) be removed as chair "... because management and other members of the police force no longer trust the chairman with confidential information."
• and that council should refrain from interfering with the day-to-day activities of the police force.
McIntyre told this newspaper the report contained things which never should have been addressed – and didn’t address some of the things it should have.
"It wasn’t much of a report," McIntyre said. "If we had to pay for it, council may have gone further with it, but the commission covered the cost."
So the city didn’t have to pay for it, but don’t fool yourselves into thinking you didn’t. But just how much of your money and mine went into compiling this essentially secret report is, well ... a secret.
For whatever reason, the New Brunswick Police Commission sidestepped questions as to how much this document cost. And it doesn’t have to tell us. When Leader reporter Adam Jacobs requested the material under the New Brunswick Right to Information Act, he received letters informing him the commission is exempt from the Act. They don’t have to ever explain a thing if they don’t want to and they can’t be compelled to provide documentation.
That seems to be good enough for McIntyre.
"I’m not concerned with the report, because it’s the past. We’ve got bigger problems right now and we’ve made such good progress moving forward,” he said.
Nice to know an investigation to get more communication between our police force and our city government is being buried by our city councillors, some of whom are poorly reflected in it, while the body who did the investigation is keeping quiet about the cost.
Don’t you love transparency in government?
I think we deserve better.