The group that oversees and sets policy for Windsor police is expanding. Here's how to apply
At the request of Windsor city council, the group that oversees and sets policies for Windsor's police service is going to add two new members.
Councillors decided to expand the board, which also oversees police in Amherstburg, from five to seven members on Monday.
The expansion is allowed under under Ontario's new police act, which states boards can have five, seven or nine members.
One new member will be a city councillor and the other will be selected by the province from a pool of applicants.
"With this new police act there are more requirements on the board to do different work and different accountability mechanisms so it requires more hands, I think," said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, who also serves as the chair of the police board.
Dilkens said that a councillor has been selected but he did not announce who it is, saying that a vetting process was needed as part of the new police act.
The other position will be selected by the province and is open to people living in the province who speak English or French and are not:
A judge or justice of the peace.
A member of a police service, a special constable or a First Nation officer.
Any person who practises criminal law as a defence counsel or as a prosecutor.
A director, officer or employee of a prescribed policing provider.
People can apply on Ontario's public appointee website and will need to undergo a police record check.
The current board is made up of:
Dilkens (chair of the police service board).
Jo-Anne Gignac (councillor appointed by council).
Sophia Chisholm (appointed by council).
Robert de Verteuil (appointed by province).
John Elliott (appointed by province).
Amherstburg Mayor Michael Prue sits on the board in an advisory role.
Council could have decided to expand to nine members but Dilkens said they wanted to make the change incremental at first.
The police act only allows city council to appoint one person who is not a councillor or city employee to the board.
Council's decision to appoint Chisholm last year was criticized because it meant the board overseeing police would continue to have only white members. That changed when the provincial government appointed former Windsor councillor Elliott six months later.
The new police act requires all police boards to create a diversity plan within the next 12 months that outlines how the board plans to ensure it's reflective of the population it serves.
