Thunder Bay's new police chief takes in community's questions and concerns at town halls

Thunder Bay's new chief of police voluntarily took the hot seat this week to field questions, comments and concerns from community members in back-to-back town hall meetings.

Chief Darcy Fleury, who formerly served the RCMP for 36 years, was sworn into his role last Monday. 

The Thunder Bay Police Service has been in the spotlight in recent years due to a laundry list of controversies, yielding a series of reports critical of the service and its oversight board, investigations and coroner's inquests, and hundreds of recommendations.

But as Fleury takes the helm, he said he is committed to moving forward in a better direction, but admits "it's going to be a long, hard road."

"We need to work together," he told attendees at Thursday night's town hall meeting at the West Thunder Community Centre. "We can't forget the past, we won't forget the past … we have to change the narrative."

Guns and gangs top of mind

In the aftermath of a recent daylight shooting at Spence Court in Westfort, much of the conversation at Fleury's two town halls revolved around escalating guns and gang violence in the city. Several residents called for stricter sentences for violent offenders, something the federal government is considering with its Bill C-48 on bail reform.

Fleury also heard questions on home takeovers, particularly in social housing, and calls for a return of community policing, where officers operate in satellite locations across the city.

The police's involvement in social issues – such as addictions, mental health and homelessness – was another key theme. The Integrated Mobile Police Assessment Crisis Team, which involves police, mental health workers and the hospital providing 24-7 support, was brought up. While Fleury said funding for that program is due to end in September, he expressed optimism the service would continue.

"We triage the situation. Is this a mental health situation? Is it a housing situation? Is it a police situation? And then we know what stream we have to go in," Fleury told CBC News. "It's going to be an effective use of everybody's resources and it's going to really help the person that's in some sort of a need find the resources that they need to get out of that."

As for internal strife within the police service itself, one resident at Thursday's town hall suggested a platform where police staff can submit anonymous complaints. Fleury was seen writing in his notebook after receiving the recommendation.

A promise to address Broken Trust

When a resident of Fort William First Nation asked if Fleury would, in time, address the 2018 Broken Trust Report from the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, which found systemic racism within the Thunder Bay Police Service, as well as former senator Murray Sinclair's report on the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, the new police chief said he would speak to both at a future town hall meeting in the fall.

"Those recommendations are really targeted," Fleury said. "I do have an understanding now of some of the things that we've done already but I think it's really important to give the most informed response when I'm actually 100 per cent solid on everything."

Rosie Mosquito, former executive director of Oshki-Pimache-O-Win: The Wenjack Education Institute in Thunder Bay, said it was curiosity that led her to Thursday's town hall meeting – and she wasn't disappointed.

She commended Fleury for providing people a platform to share their thoughts, and said the strategic plan he is building seems to be fused with direction from different levels of government, but more importantly, the community itself.

"It's a novel approach, I believe, and I think he's off to a great start. So now there will be the test of time. Of course, I wish him the best," she said with a smile.

However, she, too, called on the new chief to take recommendations made in the past to heart.

"I wanted to be sure that he heard our concerns from an Indigenous point of view, as it relates to safety for Indigenous people, because certainly many of our people don't feel safe," Mosquito said. "For our people, we do live in fear."

Francine McKenzie, a student at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, said it was important to her to attend Thursday's town hall and praised Fleury's approach of community engagement.

"The city and the citizens have been through a lot over the past several years, and so I think in order for us to change things in the city, it's a good thing to be proactive and to support forums like this," she said.

"It's also an opportunity to share our issues that we have in this city as Indigenous people," McKenzie continued. "It really provides transparency to Thunder Bay police that we haven't had for a number of years."