UVIC student pens letter to Delta Police Chief for sincere apology, accountability in policing

DELTA (NEWS 1130) — After Delta’s Police Chief made a statement in regards to an incident involving his wife and a South Asian woman in front of their home earlier this month, another Delta woman is calling for a more sincere apology given the effects the incident has had on the South Asian community.

UVIC law student Naya Dhatt says she’s sent a letter to Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord asking for more of an apology after his wife Lorraine was apparently involved in a confrontation at the edge of their beachfront home earlier this month that ended with a woman, Kiran Sidhu, being hosed down with water.

“I had so much hope for the Delta Police Department’s leadership. I was positive that someone like you, who had accomplished so much academically and seemed to have a modern outlook, would spark positive change in the community where I attended elementary and high school,” Dhatt writes.

“This is why I was so deeply hurt and shocked by your wife’s assault of Kiran Sidhu and your department’s handling of the assault.”

Dhatt writes, the toll on the assault for South Asian women like herself matters as members of the community “feel less safe and valued in Delta when the police do not take a racist assault seriously.”

“How can the South Asian community in Delta and other minority communities in Delta have faith in you to protect them when you cannot acknowledge the extent of the damage caused by your wife’s actions? How can we have faith in you when you cannot even acknowledge that your wife’s values impact your own values and in turn the department’s values? How can we have faith in you when your wife’s apology is so woefully inadequate? Consistent with recent events in Canada and in the US, this assault highlights the racism inherent in our police,” she adds in her letter.

Dhatt tells NEWS 1130 she is not satisfied with the chief’s response and she would like him to acknowledge the harm that happened to Sidhu particularly.

“The harm that his wife’s actions have caused to the South Asian community in Delta, as well as other racialized communities in Delta, who now may not feel confident that the police chief is going to take the steps to protect them,” she says.

And Dhatt adds she is hoping for something a little more substantial from the chief.

“He didn’t really consider the personal trauma. When Kiran Sidhu gave interviews to the press, she said nobody had contacted her to see how she was feeling. I think with the tensions that already exist between the South Asian community and the Delta Police – Neil Dubord really needed to address that.”

Dhatt is also calling for the accountably from the police department calling for “equal policing in the community.”

“I think an incident like this raises a lot of concerns in the community when it comes to equal policing.”

Chief Dubord has said through a statement the matter at hand in no way reflects the values of the Delta Police Department. Lorraine has apologized but Sidhu told NEWS 1130 she’s hopeful for a more sincere apology.

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