Two councillors support calls to ‘defund’ Hamilton police

Two Hamilton city councillors have joined calls to cut the police budget to reinvest funds in other services amid outrage over the deaths of racialized people in custody.

Today, we're here at the request of thousands of residents that we serve to add our support to the call to defund the police and prioritize investing in community safety and in well-being," Nrinder Nann said live on Facebook with colleague Maureen Wilson on Wednesday.

Hamiltonians have heard the call and are responding," Wilson added, noting nearly 4,000 have signed a petition calling on council to defund" police.

The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis - after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes - has sparked an international movement to reform police and slash budgets. In Hamilton, rallies have taken to streets and parks to protest police violence and anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism.

We are not proposing any quick and easy fixes here because there aren't any," Nann later told The Spectator via email.

Wilson noted they have no plans to formalize their call for police reform through a motion to council. We are listening intently and working towards solutions."

Last week, the police board asked staff to examine the service implications" of cutting $34 million from the force's $171-million budget after receiving several letters calling for cuts.

In presenting his motion, Coun. Chad Collins characterized the campaign to defund police as an attempt to essentially neuter" the service, which would compromise public safety.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger recognized that systemic racism underpins police's horrendous" role in Floyd's tragic" death. I understand that anger, but I don't know that that anger is well placed in Canada relative to police service budgets."

On Wednesday, Wilson said defunding police isn't about ending law enforcement or criminal investigations, but rather reallocating money from policing toward community-centred supports."

In her address, Nann noted racialized people, as well as those with mental health and addiction issues, disproportionately fall victim to fatal police encounters locally and across Canada.

We believe it's possible to deeply invest in crisis prevention and intervention without criminalizing mental health and addictions."

Deputy chief Frank Bergen said the councillors' comments show a desire for a larger conversation about suitable response to calls for service" and police want to play a role."

The top calls for police include disturbances, domestic incidents and people in crisis, Bergen noted.

He said it's fair to question whether police are best suited to handle homelessness, mental illness, harm reduction and poverty. But Bergen added it's not as simple as slashing the budget, which would lead to fewer officers responding to the same volume of calls.

Nann told The Spectator it's difficult to highlight what in the police budget should be cut without a more transparent picture" of the document.

That said," Wilson added, we have heard from some residents that they are not in favour of increasing spending for the militarization" of our local police service. Mounted units, armoured vehicles and assault rifles have been identified as quick areas to reconsider allocating to community-centred supports instead."

Last year, she and Nann called for an independent inquiry into police's response to anti-LGBTQ-fuelled violence at Pride celebrations in Gage Park.

The police board later approved a $600,000 review led by lawyer Scott Bergman. Last week, the board asked police to report back on how to implement 38 recommendations in his report, which found the late-arriving response inadequate."

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based city hall reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com- With files from Nicole O'Reilly