By Canadian Press

Edmonton chief raises concerns about defunding police service to deal with racism

Jun 11, 2020 | 12:05 PM

Edmonton’s police chief says there is systemic racism in Canadian policing, but he worries that defunding police could lead to a loss of officers and programs brought in to address diversity.

Chief Dale McFee says the death of a Black man in Minneapolis under the knee white police officer was wrong and the officer needs to be held accountable.

Groups such as Black Lives Matter are calling for money from policing to be redirected to services such as affordable housing, mental health programs and community-led organizations.

McFee says systemic change is needed in police forces, but it needs to be the right change.

He says there are programs within the police service that were created to address diversity, which would be lost if the department lost funding.

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He adds that the service would also lose many officers who were hired in the past three to five years to address diversity.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2020

The Canadian Press