Mountain Councillor Terry Whitehead questioned the existing practice of only releasing such reports at meetings after he provided a copy of a highly anticipated report to a Hamilton Spectator reporter three days before this month’s meeting.

The report — on steps police have taken to prevent a repeat of the slip-up that allowed accused killer Corey Rogers to remain free last year after he offered to surrender — was listed on agenda notices sent to the media and posted on the board’s Web site.

But only police board members had advance copies of the report, which they voted to receive without comment when it was made public at the meeting.

Mr. Whitehead, who is in his second year on the board, later questioned the rules for releasing reports during the new-business portion of the agenda.

He said he “was surprised” to learn the Rogers report hadn’t been publicly released when contacted by a reporter and made a special trip to his office to send a facsimile copy.

“I don’t see why, if the report’s already completed and the agenda’s completed,” Mr. Whitehead said, calling the issue one of transparency.

“Almost every committee and most boards, when they have a public piece, the reports are attached to the public piece (of the agenda). This was a rare occasion, I thought, where just the agenda was sent to the public and the board had the reports.”

His bid to get the board to release public reports earlier failed when no one seconded his motion to do so.

“I’ve never been approached by the media or the public that there’s a delay,” said Karen Cimba, one of three provincial appointees to the seven-member board.

Board chair Bernie Morelli said the existing practice is “a courtesy” and not an attempt to keep reports from the public.

“There’s no question about the transparency of reports to the board,” he said. “It’s a courtesy, and the courtesy is that of the board having an opportunity to discuss it first.”

Mr. Morelli said if Mr. Whitehead “is going to jump on this,” he should consider his own actions in discussing the report with the media prior to its official release.

“I also know that there’s a rule that only the chair speaks on behalf of the board and that wasn’t followed,” Mr. Morelli said. “That should be followed.”

The report by Chief Brian Mullan outlines 17 steps taken to address the failings identified by a Niagara police investigation into why Mr. Rogers remained free last February after offering to surrender.

On a police most-wanted list at the time for another violent crime, he was told to walk to Central station after he twice called 911. But he never showed up and when officers were dispatched, he was nowhere to be found.

A week later, he allegedly stabbed Paul Haggerty, 19, and Lucas Deane, 18, outside the Dizzy Weasel Pub after an argument over a spilled drink inside the Barton Street East bar. They died and two other young men were also injured in knife attacks, one seriously.

Mr. Rogers, then 22, was arrested at his father’s home about 12 hours later.

The Niagara police probe blamed “insufficient direction” and “inadequate” training for the decision by 911 call-takers to not dispatch a police car to pick up Mr. Rogers at his father’s Tisdale Avenue home.

Chief Mullan’s report states those and other shortcomings have been fixed through better training and procedures for catching wanted suspects.

These include the creation of a fugitive apprehension unit of two officers, which has arrested 81 high-risk offenders and helped catch another 18 suspects, the report states.

New rules now also require police to send a cruiser within 15 minutes if someone calls to surrender.

“We will not ask people to turn themselves in,” Chief Mullan said afterwards.

“When we have a high-risk offender within the community, it goes through various layers of assessment now,” he said. “I’m confident that through the policies and procedures, individuals within this organization clearly understand the expectations that are being put to them and (they) are followed.”