The mayor of Peterborough intends to return to the Police Services Board despite a report recommending he stay away from the governing body.
In a release issued Tuesday afternoon, Daryl Bennett stated he will rejoin the board this fall as the province implements a modernized Police Services Act to focus on how policing is delivered.
“The Police Services Act is archaic,” stated Bennett.
“The way we deliver policing is unsustainable. I am closely following the provincial government’s review of the Police Services Act and I look forward to working as part of the Peterborough Police Services Board on implementing the necessary changes under the new legislation.”
Bennett has had a long, contentious relationship with the Board. He was suspended in September 2012 for code of conduct violations in relation to his criticism of an 8.4 per cent budget increase request by the former Peterborough Lakefield Police Service. He also made disparaging public comments about Police Chief Murray Rodd.
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Bennett was found guilty of one count of misconduct after the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) dropped 10 of its 11 allegations in December 2016. Bennett insists the 10 charges were dropped after he appealed his matter to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
This summer, the OCPC appointed administrator Mark Sandler to review the board’s operations and history. In his 80-page report, he recommended Bennett refrain from rejoining the Police Services Board, stating it would be detrimental.
Bennett labelled Sandler’s report as a waste of time.
“Mr. Sandler wants the provincial government to block me from returning to the Board because while I wasn’t a member of the Board, I strongly disagreed that the chief and deputy chief were entitled to almost $500,000 in severance payments from taxpayers for jobs that they kept during the ownership restructuring of the Police Service,” Mayor Bennett stated.
Bennett says he is eligible to return — if he chooses — to serve on the Board as an elected head of the local municipal council, as stipulated through legislation and under the terms of a recent court settlement between himself and the OCPC.
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“When I return to the Board, I will discharge my duties under the Police Services Act while at the same time representing the interests of the residents and taxpayers of our community,” stated Bennett. “The purpose of the Police Services Board is to provide civilian governance and oversight. There is no requirement, contrary to Mr. Sandler’s position in his report, that the Board act as a cheerleader.”
Mayor Bennett added: “Justice Michael Tulloch, in the Report of the Independent Police Oversight Review released in April 2017, said it best: ‘It is not appropriate for an adjudicative tribunal like the OCPC to be interjected between municipalities and local police services boards.’”
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