Police Board
“The mission of the Altona Police Board is to provide civilian oversight and governance of the Altona Police Service in order to ensure a safe community.”
The Altona Police Service Board is a six member board that governs the Altona Police Service. Under the Police Services Act, the purpose of the Board is to provide:
- Civilian governance respecting the enforcement of the law, the maintenance of the public peace and the prevention of crime in the municipality; and
- The administrative direction and organization required to provide an adequate and effective police service in the municipality; including Towns of Altona and Plum Coulee.
The Altona Police Services Board has six members:
- One provincial appointee
- One Council appointee
- Four members of the community as appointed by Council
The Altona Police Board is comprised of:
- Chair - Audrey Schmidt
- Vice Chair- Katie Eyre-Saunders
- Board Members- Archie Heinrichs, Tammy Braun, Gord Sawatzky
- Provincial Appointee- Vacant
As civilian community members who represent the public’s interests, the Altona Police Service Board is committed to a high quality of community-based policing and excellence in police governance. The Board recognizes the challenges to law enforcement created by a changing environment, demographic shifts, emerging technologies, evolving crime trends and patterns.
Duties of the Board
The responsibilities of the Police Services Board are outlined in Manitoba Police Service Act:
General Duties:
28 (1) the police board must:
- After consulting with the police chief, establish priorities and objectives for the police service
- Establish policies for the effective management of the police service
- Direct the police chief and monitor his or her performance; and
- Perform any other prescribed duties
Specific duties of police board:
28 (2) without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the police board must:
- Ensure that the police chief establishes programs and strategies to implement the priorities and objectives established by the board for the police service;
- Ensure that community needs and values are reflected in the policing priorities, objectives, programs and strategies;
- Ensure that police services are delivered in a manner consistent with community needs, values and expectations; and
- Act as a liaison between the community and police service
Restriction on police board activities:
28 (3) the police board may give orders and directions to the police chief, but not to other police officers. No individual member of the board may give an order or direction to any police officer
No role on specific matters:
28 (4) the police board must not give orders or direction on specific operational decisions, individual investigations or the day-to-day operation of the police service.
No role in personnel matters:
28 (5) With the exception of the police chief , the police board has no role with respect to discipline or personal conduct of any police officer.
No right to sensitive information:
28 (6) the police board is not entitled to any information about individual investigations or intelligence files.
Finances:
29 (1) to assist the council in developing the Town of Altona budget, the police board must provide the council with:
- An estimate of the costs required to operate the police service in the next fiscal year; and
- Any additional information that the council considers necessary to enable it to assess the financial requirements of the police service Council has final responsibility for budget
29 (2) the council is responsible for establishing the total budget of the police service.
With the support of the citizens of the Towns of Altona and Plum Coulee the Police Services Board is confident of meeting future policing challenges in the years ahead.
How often will meetings be held?
The Altona Police Board must hold a public meeting 4 times per year. These meetings are open to the public and people wishing to speak must register when they arrive. Comments need to be kept to three minutes and the total time allowed for public comment is forty-five minutes. The 2024 meetings will be held on the following dates:
- Thursday, January 25th at 12:00pm (Council Chambers - Altona Civic Centre)
- Thursday, April 11th at 12:00pm (Council Chambers - Altona Civic Centre)
- Thursday, September 19th at 12:00pm (Council Chambers - Altona Civic Centre)
- Thursday, December 12th at 12:00pm (Council Chambers - Altona Civic Centre)
If you wish to participate in the Zoom meetings, please send an e-mail to police.services@altona.ca.
For more information on the Altona Police Board please contact Dan Gagne at dan.gagne@altona.ca.