Police board poised to abandon policies it created around use of force, vehicle pursuit, evidence control

The Winnipeg Police Board is poised to abandon three policies it developed to govern the Winnipeg Police Service.

On Friday, the volunteer board will consider a motion to rescind its use-of-force policy, vehicle-pursuit policy and evidence-control policy.

This comes at the behest of the Manitoba Police Commission, a provincial body that governs municipal police boards.

On Dec. 21, the Manitoba Police Commission informed the Winnipeg Police Board its policies were inconsistent with the provincial Police Services Act, according to a report authored by Winnipeg Police Board chair David Asper.

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The service already haspolicies in place that are far broader than the policies developed by the Winnipeg Police Board, Asper saidin a telephone interview.

"There was a view that existing policies needed to be amplified or expressed in a different way," said Asper, who assumed the chair of the police board in 2017.

Asper could not say how much time or money was spent developing the policies the board is now poised to rescind.