Lloyd Ferguson re-elected as Hamilton police board chair

Despite some calls for his leadership on Hamilton's police board to end, Coun. Lloyd Ferguson was reelected chair on Thursday by a vote of five to two.

Ferguson said he was "honoured" by the reelection and identified several challenges facing the board in 2018 that he felt he was well-suited to navigate, including passing the 2018 police budget, recruiting a new deputy chief and breaking ground on a new police investigative building.

"The challenges we're facing in 2018, they're enormous quite frankly," he said. "I think you need an experienced hand to continue the great work this board is doing."

Ferguson was recently suspended for three weeks as penalty for breaking the code of conduct for Ontario police boards.

He was rebuked for comments he made in radio interviews about an ongoing disciplinary proceeding regarding his council colleague Matthew Green, who had complained of racial profiling after he was stopped and questioned by an officer while waiting for the bus.

Ferguson apologized for his remarks.

On Wednesday, Green and a local anti-racism advocacy group called for Ferguson not to be reelected.

"I don't agree with him. He seems to have a chip on his shoulder towards me," Ferguson said.

He said he respected Green's right tohis opinion, but added:

"Clearly the board likes the job I'm doing in spite of all this to still get reelected in a five-two vote," he said.

'These shootings, it's a big concern'

At the board meeting, a civilian member of the board, Walt Juchniewicz nominated himself to run against Ferguson, but was defeated.

Another member of the public appointed to the board, Don MacVicar, was elected vice-chair.

Ferguson said another hot topic for him to pursue this year is to find out more from police about what's sparking a rise in shootings.

Shootings in Hamilton have risen in recent years, from seven in 2014, to 14 in 2015, to 22 last year and to 40 so far this year.

"These shootings, it's a big concern," he said. "We've got to get our head around why It's made a lot of people in our community feel very unsafe."

At the board's December meeting, police chief Eric Girtshowed statistics showing a general decline in total crime, property crime and violent crime over the past 10 years.

At the same meeting, police Supt. Ryan Diodati discussed the number of shootings, incidents where a victim was shot or shot at, and said the police servicecontinues to seethose incidents tied to the drug trade and turf wars.

But, he said, beyond shootings, total gun-related crimes including home invasions, assaults and threats are down over the past three years.

kelly.bennett@cbc.ca