File photo of Lethbridge Police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Year-end review: LPS Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh

Jan 5, 2021 | 11:10 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Although he’s only been chief for a few months, Shahin Mehdizadeh says his experience with the Lethbridge Police Service has been great so far.

Mehdizadeh was officially sworn in back in August.

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“We have a great police department here, [with] a lot of smart, dedicated individuals who work here and are basically committed to serving the community,” he told Lethbridge News Now.

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Mehdizadeh noted that the local community has been very welcoming toward him and his family.

“From the community perspective, this is a caring community. It is a community that the citizens do care for the city and really engaged to see what they can do to make this a better place to live,” he said.

Mehdizadeh believes all employees at the Lethbridge Police Service are doing their best every day to provide the services that citizens deserve, however, there have been some challenges as he’s adjusted to his new role, particularly around the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID-19 has put pressures on all the police departments across the country and Lethbridge hasn’t been immune to that,” he told LNN.

“When we have a positive case in our building; one person testing positive translates to, at times, 11 people being quarantined and not being able to come to work. That puts a huge impact on the police department because we are not in a business that we can just shut things down because people test positive. We still get calls from the citizens and we need to respond.”

Mehdizadeh noted there have been two positive cases within LPS’ office in downtown Lethbridge, which has resulted in many others being asked to quarantine.

“Police work is a type of business that we have to be in personal contact, physical contact with people all the time, so we have to make sure our officers follow the security protocols and are equipped with the proper tools to safely carry out their duties and serve the community,” he said.

“Having said that, it doesn’t always work that way. There are times that our officers are exposed to people who are positive for COVID-19 virus.”

As far as responding to calls of citizens not following health guidelines and restrictions, Mehdizadeh said LPS will take a stronger stance if the situation calls for it.

READ MORE: Lethbridge Police offer strong message to “anti-maskers” planning to protest

“We’ve been responding to this, educating, reasoning with people and as of late, we are taking a bit more of a stance, you know, with education, we’ve done enough of that, now we’re just looking for compliance,” he stated.

“You’re not going to go [with] a heavy-handed approach but if people still refuse to do that [follow health guidelines], we are going to be issuing tickets.”

BUDGET CUT

A major story for LPS last month was the $1 million budget cut to the police service that was approved by Lethbridge City Council.

READ MORE: Lethbridge city council approves operating budget, $1M LPS cut goes through

Mehdizadeh said now that LPS is aware of the budget cut, the service can plan on how to move forward.

READ MORE: LPS budget cut will mean fewer officers on the streets: Chief

“There will be some impact in our service delivery, but we’re going to try to make it as seamless as possible but again, I have to be honest and say that there will be impacts as to how we can provide the services we are currently providing the community,” he told LNN.

Mehdizadeh added that adjusting to the budget cut is a work in progress as LPS moves forward.

COMMUNICATION

The chief said he’s interviewed his staff at LPS, in order to get to know them better and for his employees to get to know him as more than a boss. His goal is to improve communication within the service.

“Just trying to open those channels…provide employees with more input and opinions as to where we need to go and look at empowering them to be able to provide an environment so they can better perform their job and come up with those quality chances that they may have to improve our service.”

Mehdizadeh said he’s looking forward to hitting the streets more often once the dust of COVID-19 has settled, and he’s excited to partner with residents to make Lethbridge as safe as possible.