Police board chair defends chief over forwarding racially charged email

The chief of Hamilton's police service is under fire this week for forwarding anemailto his front-line officersfrom a citizen who said it's "time for these black kids to stop blaming the police."

But he has the backing of police board chair Lloyd Ferguson, whosaid Wednesday that he has "no strong issue" with DeCaireforwarding the message.

I don't think it sets the tone of a culture as much as is being alleged. We're simply trying to thank the officers for a great job.- Police Board Chair Lloyd Ferguson

Chief Glenn DeCairepassed on the message from a citizen thanking officers for their work in a recent North End homicide. The message, which was distributed through Hamilton Police Service's internal communications system, included a signed, handwritten note from DeCaireat the bottom saying, "All of our officers who responded to the recent homicide did a great job. Keep up the good work."

The move drew fire from some councillors because of the content of the original message, butFergusonsayschief'sintent has been misrepresented.

"I just wanted to say thank you to Hamilton Police for all the hard work they are doing in regards to this senseless killing," the citizen said in theemail, which the Hamilton Spectator posted on itswebsite.

Councillor shocked

"I also wanted to say that I believe it is time for these black kids to stop blaming the police for the problems and take responsibility for the actions of the youth."

Ferguson argued the chief wasn't necessarily endorsing the citizen's comments in forwarding the email.

"It was how a citizen felt," Ferguson said, adding that theemail"wasn't intended to be a public document."

Matthew Green of Ward 3, Hamilton's first blackcouncillor, said he was shockedby it. It brings up "a lot of questions," he said. He also wonders how it may have impacted some of theofficers.

"I'm curious to know what some of the rank-and-file soldiers from the black community feltwhen they opened up their good news and that wasstaring them in the face," he said.

Green will be a delegation at a police services board meeting on Sept. 24. While he will mainly speak to street checks, he may bring up theemail,too. He said he's still weighing it.

"Conversationsaround race are never comfortable but sometimes they just need to be had," he said.

Ferguson comments

Here's a partial transcript of Ferguson answering questions from the media after a city council meeting Wednesday:

On the message:

"The service received anemailfrom a citizen and the main message of thatemailwas thanking police for the work they do in our community.

"The chief, in my view, has received a lot of criticism about being tough on police officers, and he is.He's also being criticized for not supporting them. Here he is taking a niceemailfrom a citizen, thanking them for the outstanding work they've done, and wrote at the bottom 'congratulations, great work'and had it sent to their computers in their cars so the front-line officers could see this and see that they are getting positive feedback from people in their community. It's not all negative. I think that's an important part of managing a lot of people, is let them know when they do well.

"It was just this one little line at the bottom. He could have redacted it but then it would have been questionable. 'What are you taking out?'It could have been critical. So in the interest of being transparent, it was probably appropriate that the comment be left in there because it's the comment of the citizen.

"I don't take any strong issue with this. It was how a citizen felt. He conveyed that to the service. (DeCaire)simply forwarded it on through the internal system....But I don't think it sets the tone of a culture as much as is being alleged. We're simply trying to thank the officers for a great job."

Do you think reaction has been overblown?

"Maybe. And it's just a few people, and now we'll see what falls out of this in terms of letters to the editor and comments. I have received zero emails on it today. Zero phone calls on the issue today. That shows the reaction of the community I represent. (And) Iget emails from across the city since I am police board chair."

What's going to happen at the next police services board meeting?

"On this issue? I expect nothing. I think Matthew(Green) wants to appear as a delegation. If he does, he can bring this issue up and the chief can respond publicly. I can't stress enough that it was a morale boost for the officers because a citizen was saying repeatedly, 'You've done a good job.'"

Although if you're a front-line officer of colour, it may have the opposite effect.

"But it wasn't his comment. It was the comment of the citizen. It wasn't hisemail."