Firmly denouncing a proposed 6.7 per cent increase to the Greater Sudbury Police Service budget, Black Lives Matter Sudbury is calling on city council to reject it and fund a town hall meeting where those most affected by policing would come up with community-based alternatives
Black Lives Matter Sudbury is calling on city council to reject a proposed 6.7 per cent jump in the Greater Sudbury Police Service budget, which they "firmly denounce."
Sudbury.com reached out to BLM Sudbury after GSPS tabled its 2023 budget, which proposes a 6.7 per cent budget increase. Since BLM Sudbury speaks as a collective, they issued a written response. It included answers to the questions submitted by Sudbury.com alongside a written statement, whose full text is included at the end of this story.
It was the least well-received of the seven pledges, with none of the 13 candidates who ended up elected to city council agreeing to it. “Greater police presence is a major concern for Black Lives Matter Sudbury,” they wrote. “Communities do not respond to intimidation tactics. When it comes to responding to mental health calls and intimate partner violence, police are not equipped to de-escalate these types of situations and often make the situation worse.”
Sudbury.com reached out to GSPS communications staff to have Pedersen elaborate on this perceived disconnect, and were instead granted a phone interview with Insp. Dan Despatie. “Not all mental health calls are the same, which is fair, and sometimes you don't know what it involves until you speak with the person or get there,” he said. “If somebody’s threatening violence or there are weapons involved ... who else is going to respond to that?
The Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team program either sends a team without officers or pairs officers with a Health Sciences North crisis worker on mental health calls. Alongside this, officers committed to completing extra de-escalation and culturally sensitive empathy-based training. In concert with police advocating for 24 more sworn members within three years, he said there’s ongoing advocacy through organizations such as the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police for additional outside support, including mental health.
Although police have reported that 40 per cent of local survey respondents want more patrols and greater police visibility, BLM Sudbury pointed to a 2020 Over to You online public consultation by the city as including several comments advocating against budget increases.
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