(Published in 24 Hours July 18, 2012)
Police database complaints a ‘red herring’
By
Leo Knight
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the most virulent anti-police organization in the province, are again on the wrong side of an issue involving police.
A year ago, BCCLA spokesperson David Eby began bleating about the police computer system that links all police officers in the province to a single database.
Last spring, they initiated a complaint with the privacy commissioner about this. Now, they have forced a debate with the Vancouver Police Board who, frankly, should run as far away from this issue as humanly possible.
In 2003, former solicitor general Rich Coleman authorized creating the police records information management environment, PRIME BC. This really resulted from a 1998 B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police meeting, when they adopted a common vision for a shared information database. At the time, the RCMP used the police information retrieval system (PIRS) and computer aided dispatch (CAD) while the Vancouver Police Department used the records management system (RMS). Other municipalities used a local proprietary system or shared PIRS. All were essentially the same thing, a record of every contact, good or bad, people within the community had with police.
BCCLA says, in Orwellian fashion, this information accessible by all police officers in B.C. could somehow jeopardize your ability to get a job.
Last year, Eby said, “What the police officer who put you in this database wrote about you can make a difference between your getting a job, getting into school, volunteering, or not.”
This is a red herring. Police used to record and file all that information on five-inch by three-inch index cards. With the advent of computerized databases, they digitized it.
Since Coleman’s initiative, they share it and all police agencies can access it. The index card info was shared between police before. It just took a phone call. Is it shared with human resources recruiters? No, not then and not now.
PRIME BC records do not affect jobs requiring police clearance. Information recorded by the Canadian Police Information Centre and the Ontario’s Criminal Name Index reflects outstanding charges, criminal convictions and any court-imposed restrictions — that’s what matters and could affect employment.
What’s really different? Not a lot. Police have become more efficient in the collection, access and sharing of information with other police. Computers and software have facilitated that. That’s it.
Why has the BCCLA got their panties in a wad?
Beats me. The police board should tell them to get stuffed.