CANADA: Nigerian, Oriola, appointed advisor on police act review in Alberta

AN associate professor of criminology at the University of Alberta, Temitope Oriola, has been appointed as a special advisor on police act review to the government of the Canadian province of Alberta, authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.

Oriola’s appointment is for a six-month term, within which he would provide independent advice to the Albertan government to guide its decision as the province seeks to improve its criminal justice system.

The Albertan government had set the police act review on course last September, and since then, it has held 13 engagement sessions attended by approximately 200 organisations representing law enforcement, health and social services sectors, municipalities and indigenous communities.

After the engagement session, almost 15,000 Albertans completed a public survey that centered on several topics related to law enforcement, including the role of police in the community, processes for handling complaints from the public and officer discipline, the government said.

Reacting to his appointment, Oriola, a columnist for one of Nigeria’s online news platform, Premium Times, and joint editor-in-chief of African Security, Oriola said, “I am pleased to join the team of committed professionals dedicated to retooling the Police Act for 21st century policing. This will provide a socio-legal framework to reduce excessive use of force, ensure officer safety and enhance trust in and legitimacy of police organizations.”

He spoke of his hopes to utilise his expertise in criminology and as a person of colour to uphold “law enforcement practices that rarely rely on force and police organisations that are trusted by all the communities they serve.”

He will henceforth advise the government on how possible ways to review the changes to be made for the police act which is expected to be completed later this year.

The Professor, whose expertise straddles policing and the use of force by police, transnational crimes, terrorism studies, resource conflict and social movements affirmed that his goal is to develop a framework for the state police on ways to reduce excessive use of force, while ensuring the safety of the officers.

Similarly, a Nigerian-Canadian, Kaycee Madu, was last August appointed minister of justice and solicitor general by Albertan government.

Madu, based on his appointment, had the mandate to see to the changes in the police act and provincial election finance laws proposed by the select special democratic accountability committee.

“With a body of research and published articles on law enforcement issues, Dr Oriola brings specialized experience and knowledge to reforming policing in Alberta,” Madu noted in a statement on Wednesday.

“Dr Oriola’s academic expertise and lived experience will also help us shape the ongoing engagement with diverse and racialised communities and ensure that our work to modernize policing in Alberta continues to be inclusive,” Madu said.