Phillips optimistic about upcoming public inquiry

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on January 6, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

MLA for Lethbridge West Shannon Phillips is feeling positive about an upcoming public inquiry into the Lethbridge Police Service.
“I’m grateful that the minister called it. I really am. I’m very grateful to Minister Madu. I didn’t even ask for this; he just did it,” said Phillips this week.
An inquiry ordered by the Alberta justice minister in 2021 calling for the Law Enforcement Review Board (LERB) to assess the access and use of LPS data bases and record management will proceed this year.
Last November, the Lethbridge Police Commission announced it wouldn’t be ordering a Section 32 Public Inquiry under the Alberta Police Act as requested by Phillips’ lawyer. For the Madu-ordered hearing, individuals can apply by Jan. 10 to receive standing as a participant or intervener if they meet certain stipulations.
The inquiry’s scope, as established last May, is for LERB to conduct the inquiry in accordance with procedures and powers set out in Section 20(1) of the Police Act and the board’s Appeal Policies and Procedures.
“I am optimistic that this inquiry will uncover what the LPS knew in terms of the misconduct directed towards me and when they knew it; eventually, why I was never informed of this very serious misconduct that may arise to the level of criminality. There is, of course, a parallel criminal investigation into the misuse of police databases with the explicit aim of political targeting and intimidation of me,” added Phillips.
“And that’s why Minister Madu called this inquiry,” said Phillips adding that “you have to be getting up pretty early in the morning and working pretty hard to find points of agreement between Shannon Phillips and Kaycee Madu.”
“But the misconduct by the LPS and how they have responded to that misconduct to this day, it’s not ancient history. How that has been handled and responded to to this day is so bad that it forms a point of agreement between two political adversaries that on a normal day probably couldn’t agree that the grass is green,” said Phillips.
“So that I think tells the people of Lethbridge just how serious this is. And just how important it is that we don’t just get to the bottom of what happened to me but we make sure that we address every aspect of the culture of impunity that led to this. And that’s what a public inquiry can do. In terms of the specifics of what happened to me, there’s a criminal investigation because these are criminal activities potentially”  and the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating, said Phillips.
“I am optimistic about that and I’m also grateful. There are other inquiries and other avenues of action that will be undertaken in 2022. I don’t anticipate it will all be wrapped up by the time the election rolls around in 2023. It could be, it could easily be if the Lethbridge Police Service ever figured out a way to not treat me as an adversary but with some respect and with a mutual desire to restore public trust and public confidence.”

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