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

By Justin Goulet

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

Jun 1, 2021 | 12:09 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The chief of the Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) says accountability and working with the community is a key to moving forward in a positive manner.

Shahin Mehdizadeh was the special guest speaker at a virtual town hall hosted by the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce Tuesday morning. His presentation came on the heels of Alberta Justice Minister and Solicitor General Kaycee Madu saying he was dissatisfied by LPS’ action plan to address concerns raised by government and the public on the services’ operations.

READ MORE: Justice Minister not satisfied with Lethbridge Police Service’s improvement plan

Due to the minister’s disapproval of the plan, the LPS has until June 25 to submit a revised document to the justice department. Chief Mehdizadeh addressed the situation during Tuesday’s virtual town hall.

“When this action planned was thought of, first of all we had to look at addressing the minister’s initial letter that was sent to us as to what he wanted us to present in this action plan.”

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

Mehdizadeh said that, “these seven pillars that I talked to you about hit on some of those concerns that he [Minister Madu] had at a very high level, because we were mindful that this is going to the minister and I don’t believe he has time to sit down and read a 500-page document.”

READ MORE: LPS Action Plan sent to Alberta’s Justice Minister

He stated that the plan was submitted to the offices of Madu and reviewed by some of his staff members.

“They had given us the ‘this looks okay’, so we presented that and then we got the letter [disapproving the plan].”

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

He 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.”

“When you look at the minister’s letter, as much as it is harshly-worded, really what he’s looking [for] is more information on the stuff we’ve already identified and we are fully engaged on that process to provide the minister with everything he needs to satisfy him that we are on the right track and we are moving forward with this.”

Mehdizadeh commented that his staff and the LPS have become “a punching bag” as of late.

However, he said he’s “still very proud of every one of our men and women in this department who continue to get out there and serve the community despite the negative publicity and really some personal attacks on individuals.”

The LPS has been under public scrutiny for some time now, in light of allegations of officer misconduct. Mehdizadeh is asking the public to wait until final investigations are complete before passing judgement on members of the police service.

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

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“Let’s wait to get the facts before us and that’s all I’m asking. When it comes to accountability, I will hold people accountable when the facts are presented and if they’re established that there was misconduct, absolutely. That’s my job, that’s what the public expects of the police department and I would never shy away from that, and I’ve just asked the public to be patient, not come to judgements.”

Mehdizadeh noted that LPS employees are, in addition to being police, part of the community and should be treated with respect just like any other citizen.

PHOTO RADAR & PARTNERSHIPS

In addition to discussing Minister Kaycee Madu’s reaction to LPS’ action plan, Mehdizadeh honed in on a few other topics, including photo radar in the city.

“At the end of the day, I believe that photo radar is in operation in areas where we have complaints, where we need to actually increase our enforcement and again, holding the people accountable.”

“If we need to review them [photo radar locations], certainly we haven’t received any significant complaints about it to force us to review that, but if there is a need for that, I’m certainly open to that.”

In working with other policing agencies, such as the Blood Tribe Police Service, Mehdizadeh said the LPS has “significant” interactions with the Blood Tribe and noted he meets regularly with the reserve’s police chief.

“I’ve also initiated a sudden Alberta chiefs meeting, which we do every quarter – every three months, which really is all of the chiefs within the southern part of the province.”

He explained that during those meetings, southern Alberta police chiefs can talk about trends, opportunities and share intel on how to address issues in their communities. These meetings are in addition to the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police meetings that happen regularly to discuss various issues in the province.

Mehdizadeh noted currently, four new Blood Tribe Police officers are training with four new Lethbridge Police officers.

“These interactions are really helping the relationship between the two police departments because we know we serve a lot of the citizens in this community from the Blood Tribe and vice versa and we are there to support each other.”

The virtual town hall can be viewed below.