Year-end interview: LPS Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh

Below are just a few of the major matters police have been involved in throughout this year.

Memes and Misconduct

Something that has landed LPS into national controversy in recent years is the fact that there are numerous investigations currently ongoing into the conduct of a few particular officers.

LNN was informed in advance of our year-ender with Mehdizadeh that he would not be able to comment specifically on any currently-active investigations, as is standard practice. He did, however, speak at length about how these matters are handled and what is and is not under his control.

One thing the chief believes many in the community have a misconception of is that police pursue punishment for those who break the rules.

“We don’t punish even murderers in this country. We hold them accountable.”

In order to hold people accountable, he says it is crucial that the appropriate procedures and processes are carried about.

In the so-called “Meme Gate” investigation, a group of officers created and shared memes in 2018 about Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips, the LPS Executive, other officers, and “society in general” that Lethbridge Police Service described as “profane, abusive, and insulting.”

Two of the officers involved were temporarily demoted, two quit the force, and the remaining one will have his matter resume in the new year.

Especially since this came to his attention because of submitted complaints, Mehdizadeh said he chose to bring it out to the public for the sake of transparency, despite it being an internal matter.

“The investigation has to be done in a legal manner with in mind that we have to make sure people’s rights are protected and not stepped on, same as when we do a criminal investigation. We can’t go even catch a murderer if we don’t abide by the rules of the law and make sure the right processes are in place to deal with that individual.”

“People think, as a chief of police. I can just go arbitrarily to fire people and get rid of them. That doesn’t happen when we put through a process of hearing, which is what the Police Act allows me to do, then I’m putting in an environment that the highest level of discipline that can be given is discharge from the organization or a simple reprimand.”

Mehdizadeh says these processes are important because every person, including sworn police officers, has constitutionally-protected rights and nobody has the right or authority to take peoples’ pride and dignity away from them.

“Some people think that we can start getting into really ugly areas of the punishment and bad-mouthing and those kind of games. Certainly, that’s never been my style. Never will be. I will, because nobody in this country has the authority or right, I don’t care who they are, to behave that way and take people’s dignity and pride away from them.”

Drugs and Drug-Related Crime

Mehdizadeh says LPS has dedicated a significant amount of its resources to tackling drug-related crime in the city.

Working alongside the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT), city police are “really fully committed” to the enforcement side of things.

Arresting the “bad guys” is really only one piece of the puzzle, however.

The chief told LNN that the wrap-around services to support people suffering from substance addiction are equally, if not more important.

Although it is not something he has direct control over, he has been an active partner in the City of Lethbridge’s Community Wellbeing and Safety Strategy.

It aims to assist drug users with shelter support systems and bring on different agencies that can further assist those who need it.

“As we all know, enforcement by itself is really, it doesn’t do anything. We can catch all the drug dealers in the city, but if there are still a lot of drug users, it’s going to attract other drug dealers. So now we are looking at how we can work with different agencies to bring that wraparound service to these clients and hopefully, not all of them are going to be getting out of that lifestyle, but hopefully, some of them can be helped to make better choices.”

When discussing crime in Lethbridge, one thing that often comes up is the so-called “catch and release,” where a person would be arrested and charged with a crime, only to shortly afterwards be released back into the public on a promise to appear in court.

Mehdizadeh says he hears the frustration from the public on this, but he has “no say or influence over that side of the equation.”

Police remain committed to conducting investigations and ensuring that, when a matter does reach the courts, they will have gathered significant evidence and followed proper procedures to ensure a guilty conviction.

One thing he is trying to do, however, is work with the crown’s office in relation to prolific offenders.

“These are the very small percentage of criminals who are actually committing most of the crime in the city. So if we actually, and again, the discussion with Crown is how can we work better together to identify and actually, from Crown’s perspective, they can hold them more accountable when they go through courts by educating, obviously, the judges.”

Pandemic Policing

To say that the last nearly two years have greatly impacted most professions is an understatement. The same goes for law enforcement.

Whereas certain industries can shift many of their employees to an online, work from home model, Mehdizadeh says this simply is not an option for first responders such as police.

“We have to be there when the call comes, and when people expect when they call 911 one day and they have a complaint, police will show up and deal with it.”

He told LNN that COVID-19 has greatly impacted the service from a staffing standpoint.

If even one officer on a particular unit contracts the virus, that could lead to most, if not the entire unit having to self-isolate.

As a result, officers from other units would be pulled in to fill those vacancies, impacting both the self-isolating unit and the one that is lending their members.

Throughout the course of the pandemic, Mehdizadeh admits that they have had to pay quite a bit more in overtime because of this, but the financial aspect is not what worries him the most.

“Our overtime hours have been raised so much, but that also puts a lot of mental pressure on our officers that they have to go to these and they have to go home to the families. So the kids, are they actually exposing their families to virus and they don’t need to be, so that that’s the second piece of the mental state that we have. Our officers have to work through to make the job done.”

While protests are something that police will always have to deal with, the chief says they have become more frequent since the onset of COVID-19.

He believes in peoples’ rights to publicly express their opinions and either their support or opposition to certain things happening in society, but they have to be done “in a respectful way, in a way that doesn’t harm or threaten other individuals.”

Mehdizadeh says the role of police when it comes to protests is not to break up the gatherings or squash any public dissent, but simply to ensure that those in attendance are abiding by the rules and carrying out their rallies in respectful manners.

Heading into 2022

As always, Mehdizadeh says the top priority for LPS in the New Year will be crime reduction and ensuring that the community is safe overall.

The exact policies that are put in place and the priorities that are officially written down will still have to be discussed with the police commission.

One thing he would like to put a large emphasis on in 2022 is ensuring the police service has a healthy team from both a mental and physical standpoint.

“Employee wellness is critical to make sure we look after our team and our team members so they can get out and do their job and serve the community.”

Another top priority will be to continue building trust with the community.

Mehdizadeh believes that the majority of people in the area are supportive of police and the work that they do, despite the vocal online critics.

“My goal is to increase that even for the minority who, where it’s, what can we do to, actually for them to trust the police and make sure that we kind of address some of those gaps if we know them.”

He understands that some people will never like the police, but he wants to learn more about why that is the case.

This is why Mehdizadeh told LNN he wants to hold a series of public town halls next year so he can speak directly with people in person.

by David Opinko

Year-end interview: LPS Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh

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