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By Nigel Maxwell
Citing frustrations with communication and leadership style, the union representing Prince Albert’s police officers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of non-confidence in Police Chief Jon Bergen.
Over the course of two meetings this month, 92 of the police association’s 102 members participated in the vote. The result was 95 per cent of the voting members stating they do not have confidence in Bergen.
Police association president Josh Peterson explained the tensions between the chief and rank-and-file officers has been growing for years, and citing attempts to speak to the police board about their concerns, added it is not in tune with the realities in the police station.
“You would think the board would want to know what’s happening in the building given the growing non-confidence of members in the chief,” Peterson said.
Peterson went on to explain after the vote that the association reached out to the board seeking a meeting to discuss the declining morale, pressing safety concerns and growing problems within the Prince Albert Police Service.
He said the board’s reply was not received until Thursday, and it demanded a reply from the association the same day.
While agreeing to a meeting with the association executive on Monday — which the association accepted — the board, according to Peterson, laid out a number of inappropriate, irrelevant and redundant pre-conditions to the meeting which the association simply could not meet in the few hours the board provided.
“We did not want to release these non-confidence numbers to the public and we told the board that,” Peterson explained. “But by using this tactic with us, they gave us no choice but to turn to the public to ask for help and to let them know just how bad things have become at their police service.”
Among the concerns cited by the association, Peterson said he and other officers have become frustrated watching good officers leave the service because of the deteriorating conditions and what he referred to as the chief’s reckless management style.
“The chief’s style does not include dialogue with officers or our partners in the community. He refuses to hear the opinions of others or engage in face-to-face communication with members of the service,” Peterson said. “Instead of leading through teaching, he relies on ruling by fear.”
Petersen added the impact of the chief’s style has not just been felt internally, stating the chief’s inability to work with others has caused breakdowns in the police service’s relationships with other police organizations and with the service’s community partners. The result, Peterson said, is some very significant safety issues.
“Chief Bergen’s reckless decision-making has contributed to the deterioration of the mental health of frontline officers, pushing them to the breaking point,” Peterson said. “Our officers are frustrated by watching good officers either get pushed to the edge or simply leave for other police services.”
The vote this month follows a similar vote that was held in June 2020 and the result then was 71 per cent of members voting non-confidence in the chief. Peterson explained attempts to get help from the Board of Police Commissioners were ignored.
“We wonder what it will take for them to step up and do their job,” he said.
Peterson also noted that while the composition of the Board of Police Commissioners has changed since the previous non-confidence vote, Mayor Greg Dionne has served as vice-chair throughout.
“As a community, we should be very concerned that the board doesn’t seem to take these issues seriously,” he said. “Retaining officers is a disaster. We continue to lose good people to other police services and even have members considering leaving policing entirely because of their experience here. These are people that would rather be serving this community.”
As an example of the increased safety risk to officers and the community, Peterson cited statistics that show general patrol officers struggling to keep up with community needs.
“In 2002, our members responded to 25,943 calls, with 12 members per shift. In 2021, we responded to 48,242 calls — nearly twice as many — with 10 members per shift, plus one recruit. No wonder we can’t keep good people,” he said. “In the same period, though, we’ve gone from one chief and two inspectors to a chief, deputy chief, and four inspectors.”
Peterson added General Patrol has not seen a significant increase in nearly 30 years, even though the calls for service, the complexity of investigations, and the violence have increased tremendously.
On a collateral issue, the association expressed confidence in the Public Complaints Commission process currently reviewing the events which resulted in the death of Tanner Brass. Two officers have recently been suspended with pay, pending the outcome of the independent investigation by the Saskatchewan Public Complaints Commission.
“We want to begin the process of healing as a police service and as a community,” Peterson said. “Unfortunately, it appears that process can’t begin with Chief Jon Bergen.”