City Violated Privacy of 2021 Police Commission Applicants
City Violated Privacy of 2021 Police Commission Applicants by Allowing Then Police Chief Mike Worden to Weigh in On Applicants
I received a document in my personal FOIP request that showed then Police Chief Mike Worden was sent an email with not only all of the applicant names but also all of the completed applications. It said
Attached are the applications we received for the Police Commission. Please advise if you have any comments or concerns regarding any of the applicants before we take this to the Administrative & Legislative Review Committee. The date for the ALR Committee meeting has not been confirmed, but it will be sometime next week, possibly Wednesday (24).”
Since when is it okay for the police chief to be able to weigh in on who will be selected to provide oversight of their operations?
The redaction in the following image is mine. I was given all of the names.
I spoke with the City Clerk’s office this week and was told that the only people who get to see the applications are the ALR committee. However - Page 15 of the applicant handbook provided by the City of Medicine Hat says -
Important note: All applicants are required to submit a completed Police Information Check along with their application. The fee is waived upon presentation of your completed application to the Medicine Hat Police Service located at 884 – 2 Street SE.
So not only does the ALR committee have the applications but now the police service has access to the completed applications before selection has taken place. Again, when is it okay for the police service to see who is applying for their oversight body?
Page 19 of the Applicant Handbook says
Pursuant to s.33 (c) of the Freedom of Information and the Protection of Privacy Act, the personal information collected on this form is for the purpose of an operating program or activity of the City of Medicine Hat. The City of Medicine Hat must collect personal information directly from the individual that the information is about unless another method of collection is authorized by the individual or by an enactment of Alberta or Canada. The personal information provided will be protected under Part 2 of the Freedom of Information and the Protection of Privacy Act and will be used for administering the selection and management of members of City Council’s Advisory bodies. Questions regarding the collection and use of personal information can be directed to the FOIP Head at 403.529.8382.
Page 12 of the document Alberta Policing Oversight Standards for Municipal Police Commissions says
RR 2.3 Security checks
The municipality shall conduct a background check/security clearance of each successful candidate (including those appointed as a member of the council or an employees of the municipality) before confirmation of his/her appointment to the oversight agency, including at a minimum:
Criminal record check;
Character / Reference checks;
Interview of applicant (including an assessment of overall suitability)
PCD (Public Complaints Director) shall receive an Enhanced Security Clearance (RCMP or municipal equivalent)
Note that the document says to do the police checks AFTER the candidate is successful. That would take care of a number of privacy concerns.
The current Medicine Hat Police Commission applicant process of requiring a police check submitted with the application is just wrong.
1 This alerts the Medicine Hat Police Service as to who might be overseeing them.
2 This creates privacy concerns since more people than necessary will see the completed application which includes personal information.
3 Requiring police checks to go with the application is an unnecessary cost and a waste of resources.
Allowing the police chief to weigh in on police commission applicants is absolutely outrageous
Any security concerns can be alleviated by the required police check. Allowing a subordinate an opinion on those who apply to provide oversight is putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. Even if there is no malice, the optics are very bad.