Days after Edmonton police took down encampments at a pro-Palestine rally at the University of Alberta, the chief appeared at the Edmonton Police Commission meeting to speak to the response.
The meeting was scheduled to be held at Edmonton city hall but was moved online due to safety concerns.
Security at city hall has been significantly increased since a shooting on Jan. 23 in the building. Metal detectors have been added and there are multiple security guards on every floor.
Still, commission chair John McDougall told Global News some members were nervous after a meeting Tuesday saw more than 100 come out for a city council meeting to speak out against the police response.
“We had our back to a very, very large crowd. Admittedly they were peaceful, there was only a couple of outbursts, but when you know you have angry people behind you and you can’t see what’s going on, that’s a bit of a challenge,” McDougall said Thursday.
Nearly a dozen people signed up to speak virtually.
“You all feel unsafe while surrounded by heavy security guards throughout city hall. Try feeling safe when police are swinging batons at your heads,” former University of Alberta student Vahedah Mehrabani told the commission.
Others also voiced their opposition to the police action.
“As a witness who was recording, an officer hit me multiple times with his bike,” Naiha Wasi said of her experience Saturday.
Some called on the commission to take action.
“The shaky ground upon which this violence was justified demands accountability. In what universe did our campus community deserve this?” former student Alexander Dowsey said at the meeting.
Police Chief Dale McFee defended his officers’ actions, saying the service is seeing a huge increase in the number of protests it has to respond to each year.
“Police have clear responsibilities when it comes to protests and I want to be clear on that,” McFee told the meeting.
“And the protesters have responsibilities, two of which I want to be clear on this, including to obey all laws and to respect private property.”
As a rule, the chief typically speaks with media following the commission meetings. EPS refused interviews Thursday, saying McFee would host a news conference on Friday.
For his part, McDougall said the commission’s role is as a civilian oversight body and that its job is not to get involved in the day-to-day operations of the police service.
“The commission is not afraid of hard questions, we’re not afraid of criticism and we are committed to hearing from the citizens of the city,” McDougall told Global News.
“We cannot affect change if we don’t know what needs to change.”
McDougall said he had concerns after seeing photos and videos of police officers not wearing name tags and badge numbers during the response Saturday.
He told Global News he spoke with Chief McFee about that and that he was assured officers would wear name tags and badge numbers going forward, no matter which division they are with.