BCGEU representatives met June 28 with Attorney General Barry Penner to discuss issues related to the shortage of sheriffs and how they impact court safety.

BCGEU president Darryl Walker, Component 1 chair Dean Purdy, Component 12 chair Sandi McLean and staff representative Mike Eso represented the union at the meeting.

"Over 2,100 BCGEU members work every day in the Attorney General's ministry and I was pleased the minister took the time to meet with us and hear our concerns and suggestions," said Walker. "We thanked him for restoring the hours for sheriffs and he agreed that we have lost more than 100 deputy sheriffs over the last few years, and this is something that needs to be addressed."

McLean raised a number of safety issues related to her members, including court clerks, registry staff and others in Court Services, on work related matters.

“We told the Minister the Safety that our Court Services staff and particularly the court clerks depend on deputy sheriffs for protection, and running the courts without deputy sheriffs is not safe," McLean said.

The BCGEU also raised the importance of establishing permanent search gates at provincial courts to limit the flow of weapons and other contraband into the facilities.

"As we have seen with several recent high profile court cases, there has been a dramatic increase in members of the public trying to enter courts with firearms, knives, syringes and the like," said Purdy.

“These court rooms are our workplaces and the time to install search gates to improve worker safety is now," said McLean.

The minister was also asked about the status of the 14 Deputy Sheriffs trained last summer for traffic duties, as well as creating a warrant apprehension team so that the 25,000 plus outstanding warrants in B.C. can be served.

"The minister indicated an interest in considering our suggestions," said Purdy.

The issue of moving the Sheriffs Services to a standalone branch in either the ministry of Attorney General or the ministry of Public Safety/ Solicitor General was also raised with the Attorney General.

"I was pleased by both the tone of the meeting and Mr. Penner's commitments to find resources," said Walker. "I look forward to the next steps in acting on these important issues."