The City of New Westminster and the New Westminster Police Department want to tackle diversity in the workplace.
A staff report to council outlined the city’s plan to issue a request for proposals for a consulting firm that will help the city develop and implement a framework that advances diversity, inclusion and equity across the civic organization. This will include strategies to eliminate racism and systemic discrimination in all its forms within the civic organization and the community.
The report states the city aspires to be a local government employer of choice by attracting, engaging and retaining a talented workforce that represents a balanced, diverse and inclusive public service.
“The city is committed to proactively identifying and addressing any systemic barriers in our business policies, practices, procedures, programs and services so that we can provide a supportive work environment, capitalize on the strengths and talents of our workforce, and represent the community we serve,” said the report. “A key component of this work will be focused on diversity, inclusion and equity within the New Westminster Police Department and the New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services.”
Some of the objectives of the framework include: reporting on the current breakdown of departments by gender, diversity and people with disabilities; researching best practices that other governments, institutions and businesses have implemented to address gender parity, diversity and inclusion; developing hiring practices that meet the needs of a changing workforce and improve the balance of the city’s employee makeup; and developing citywide policy for all departments that address issues of gender parity, diversity, inclusion and integration and support all city employees with disabilities.
“The framework will provide an important tool for ensuring that our organization is safe from the threat of racism, discrimination and injustice, while ensuring that our ideals for a diverse, inclusive and just society are reflected in our policies, practices, procedures, program and services,” said the report.
The New Westminster police board also supports the work being proposed. The police board has passed a motion to: develop a workforce that is broadly reflective of the community; identify and address barriers to diversity within its organizational systems; attract and retain a talented workforce skilled at working in an inclusive and respectful manner with one another and with the community; create processes, policies, plans, practices, programs and services that meet the diverse needs of those they serve; and establish a senior leadership action group to oversee equality, diversity and human rights initiatives.
At its June meeting, the police board approved a motion to develop and adopt a diversity and inclusion framework to help guide community policing.
Mayor Jonathan Cote, chair of the police board, said it’s an issue that Chief Const. Dave Jansen is particularly interested in. Cote noted this isn’t brand new work for the police department, as some of that work is already underway.
“Part of this call is making sure that our police organization is reflective of the community,” he said. “We have always been proud in the City of New Westminster that we are above the national averages in terms of female officers. We are above the national average when it comes to visible minorities on the police department. But we can’t just rest on our laurels. Just because we are above-average there, overall the averages aren’t where they are need to be. I really don’t see this as something about setting quotas but I think we need to have a really good conversation about what are the barriers.”
As an example, Cote said he’d like to get a better understanding of the barriers related to Indigenous people’s participation in police departments.
