LUISA D'AMATO TAKES QUITE A ROUND OUT OF OUR POLICE BOARD

First off kudos to Ms. D'Amato. The "civilian" police board has been fundamentally a sacred cow forever and it never should have been. Instead of three regional councillors, as well as regional council appointed citizen members and a provincially appointed citizen member all sitting on their duffs collecting their per diem and socializing, this Board has been needed to improve our local police force. It has failed miserably. ............................................................................................................. The title of Luisa D'Amato's Opinion piece is "Police Board members can't be silent about racism" and was published on September 11, 2020. I know what Ms. D'Amato means however literally she is incorrect. The police board can and is silent about racism. They have been silent about "carding". They have been silent about misconduct and harassment of female members of the force. They have been silent about police shootings and killings in Waterloo Region. Being silent, keeping their heads down and not rocking the police boat is what they do best. .................................................................................................... Ms. D'Amato singles out the following Board members namely Woolwich Mayor Sandy Shantz, Ian McLean, Karin Schnarr and Tony Giovinazzo for asking questions regarding spending by the police but nothing about racism, racist behaviour and or any difficult or awkward questions that oops might be construed as being provocative, embarassing or critical of the police. As Ms. D'Amato states "The silence is deafening. And heartbreaking." She later adds "Systemic racism in police services is inextricably woven into systemic racism in society." "In this task, polite silence is not our friend." .................................................................................................................. Full disclosure: I have in the past applied to be a civilian appointee to this Board. Apparently outspoken, hard working and opinionated people need not apply. No surprise at all.