WEYBURN – Weyburn police chief Jamie Blunden is “bittersweet” about leaving the Weyburn Police Service to go to Estevan and start up new duties as their police chief on Oct. 15.
Noting he and his wife love the Weyburn community and the members of the Weyburn Police Service, he cited his relationship with the Weyburn Police Commission board as the reason he is leaving.
“In order to be successful in moving the service forward, you have to have relationships, it’s built on relationships. The relationship I have with the members is next to are phenomenal, and with the community, I have a great relationship. But the relationship that’s breaking down right now is with the police board,” explained Blunden in an interview.
“It’s not positive. I have different values I bring forward, that I live by, and I believe in leadership, and part of that is making everybody around you better with support and development. On the board, there are some members who are still in that traditional style of management. A lot of decisions, operational decisions, that are being made are made without input from myself or the deputy chief. I’ve come to the point where the values that I have and the values that they have are not aligned, and I made the decision to go to a place that has a board that actually trusts in their chief and allows them to do the job, and ultimately supports the chief and their executive members.”
He added he does not feel he has that support with some members of the police board, which currently has three civilian members and three representatives from council.
“There are members who don’t understand fiduciary responsibility when it comes to the police service. As a result, in order for the service to move on, it’s best that I move on,” Blunden said.
He has known Chief Lowen in Estevan since 1990, as they both served on the Winnipeg police force together, and when Blunden left to come to Weyburn, Lowen had been his superintendent. Since both came to Saskatchewan, they have both talked and shared a lot, as they both serve on the provincial police chiefs association.
Lowen will be moving on to take the position of deputy chief of Saskatchewan’s new Marshal service, and will be going to Prince Albert, with his last day on Aug. 31.
“At the end of the day, it’s about knowing what’s going in Estevan. You have to be supportive of the members, and the police board there is very very supportive of the executive members as well as the police service,” he said, and the police board support is a major part of his reason to make this move now.
Blunden notes he loves the community here, and the members of the Weyburn force are professional and are very dedicated to the community, and it comes down to his relationship with the board.
“I’m hoping that things change for the next person sitting in this chair. Historically, the last three or four chiefs will tell you the same thing. There’s a lot of want from certain members of the police board, to have the best interests of city hall before the
best interests of the police service,” he said. “When a member of the board says that he wants to the lowest level of policing on the streets that the public will accept, then you have a problem. We should be looking for the highest level of policing on the street, to make sure they have the best possible police service that we can.”
When a board member would rather have the lowest number of police in order to save costs, “that’s where the push and pull comes in”, he added.
“You have to be fiscally responsible, but you have to be responsible to the community as well,” said Blunden. “And that’s just one example.”
The police chief noted that the Police Act states that the police commission has to be open to the public, and this board has never been. Every other police board in the province operates that way, but not the Weyburn one.
This is part of the problem with governance, along with fiduciary responsibility, that he has had issues with, because there needs to be some openness with the board in how they are making decisions.
As he leaves, Chief Blunden said he is most proud of the growth and development of the members, as both he and deputy chief Brent VandeSype have worked hard to make this happen. They set up mental well-being and physical well-being.
They have also restructured the leadership of the members and have given them training to fit those roles, “so I think the growth and development of the members is what I’m most proud of.”