Monthly Archives: August 2020

IQALUIT, NUNAVUT – Nunavut is drafting legislation to create a civilian police review body after a recent examination of an Inuit gunshot death revealed almost no information about what happened .

“We are actively discussing partnerships with the main civilian investigative bodies and will soon be proposing the necessary legislative changes to ensure that a civilian body has full statutory powers to conduct investigations in the territory,” said the territorial minister of justice , Jeannie Ehaloak, in an email.

Ehaloak, who has previously said she supports civilian reviews, made the pledge after the Ottawa Police Service released the results of an investigation into the shooting death of Attaché Ashoona in Kinngait, Nunavut , February 27.

Investigators found that officers “had not gone beyond the use of force necessary to control the situation.”

No information on the circumstances was disclosed. Ottawa Police said they interviewed five RCMP officers and 10 people from the community, but there was silence on what Ashoona was doing or why the officers fired their guns.

Ashoona’s name was only released this week.

“They are doing what the current system currently allows,” said Benson Cowan, head of the Nunavut Legal Aid Society. “All it does is erode trust in the institutions that are so important.”

Kinngait Mayor Timoon Toonoo confirmed that council had not received any information about the investigation.

“We have nothing,” he said.

Cowan said the review may have been thorough and comprehensive. But no one, other than the investigators, knows.

“I don’t think anybody would look at this and say it would build confidence.”

Trust between the Inuit and the RCMP has been a problem for a long time.

“Nunavummiut have expressed a desire to move away from police investigations into serious incidents involving members of RCMP V Division,” Ehaloak said.

Northern media report that at least six investigations are underway into the behavior of the RCMP. Several arctic politicians have called for body cameras on the gendarmes.

In June, a video showed an apparently intoxicated Inuit being run over by the door of a slowly moving police vehicle before being arrested. He was taken to the detachment cell where he was severely beaten by a fellow detainee. The man has never been charged.

There are also historical grievances. The force has been criticized for its role in bringing Inuit into communities and slaughtering sled dogs that would have allowed them to leave.

The Nunavut RCMP were not available for comment.

Nunavut NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq said civilian oversight of the police would be a good thing, but would not explain why so many Inuit are in trouble in the first place.

“Where do we see the violence? Where do we see the crime? We see it where there is poverty.

“We see this in Nunavut because of the lack of basic human needs being met.”

She urged Ehaloak to seek other solutions to the policing problems in Nunavut, citing Indigenous policing services in other parts of Canada.

Qaqqaq said the federal government must step up its efforts to alleviate ailments such as substandard housing that are at the root of many social and criminal problems in Nunavut.

“The federal government is doing less than the bare minimum for Inuit,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 25, 2020

Windsor Police Chief Pam Mizuno was not surprised by the findings of a report released last week by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) that investigated a “work environment toxic ”within the organization and on complaints from several agents.

The 72-page report includes 37 recommendations for the Windsor Police Service and Windsor Police Services Board that are based on an investigation by the OCPC, an independent oversight body, launched in May 2018.

While the report noted that “the service has much to be proud of,” it also highlighted systemic issues related to diversity and transparency. Mizuno told CBC News on Wednesday that many of the recommendations focus on areas the service has already considered and is working on.

“We have a lot to be proud of, but there are certain issues that we need to address to move forward and those issues were really things that we’ve already considered over the years, so I don’t think there are any issues. too many things that came as a surprise, ”said Mizuno, who became chief of police in October 2019.

The initial complaints that triggered the OCPC’s investigation were filed between January and April 2018. Concerns cited “inappropriate interference in specific legal proceedings”, allegations of a “poisoned work environment” and the transparency of the government. hiring and promotion process.

The investigation was also expanded to include how a 911 call was handled at the home of former Windsor Police Chief Al Frederick in November 2018. The call and the investigation raised concerns about the lack of transparency of the police service.

Diversity is a priority for service, says Mizuno

Thirteen of the report’s recommendations relate to diversity and suggest ways the service can include more female and racially diverse officers.

One of the service’s “highest” priorities, Mizuno said, is diversity.

“We are really trying to make our service representative of the community. And we have made some improvements, but we still have a way to go,” she said.

“It is always a challenge to recruit qualified members, let alone the diverse members and female members of the service. And we need to look for ways to make improvements in this area and to attract people to the policing profession. “

Mizuno added that on Tuesday, Master Sgt. Ed Armstrong became the first black master sergeant in Windsor service history.

The report also assessed the service’s policy on workplace harassment, which it says has not been updated for six years.

He added that the policy “suffers from significant shortcomings”, such as not describing, step by step, how informal and formal complaint processes work and the types of possible resolutions.

Under existing policy, workplace harassment complaints against the boss or deputy boss must also be dealt with by the board and investigations are carried out internally, rather than offering the possibility of external reviews in case of need.

“I think we can always make improvements to our workplace harassment policy,” Mizuno said, adding that they were already working on some of the suggested improvements, including a workplace harassment committee that can guide investigations. of this nature.

The report highlights differences around service morale, the board’s lack of perspective

While the report says some officers rated the workplace positively, others said morale is low.

“There will always be problems in any organization. And I don’t think you know our morale suffers any differently from any other organization,” Mizuno said.

Windsor Police Department board member and city councilor Rino Bortolin said the environment is toxic or not, if they have a significant number of complaints about it then something needs to be done .

“In order for a workplace to go to the workplace and a lot of your employees to say that there is a toxic environment, true or not, it needs to be addressed,” Bortolin said. “We must view this report with humility, regardless of whether they are real or perceived to be problems.”

He added that the board is not doing a good job of advancing key issues with the service and could be more transparent with the public.

COVID-19 has brought additional challenges to the service

The pandemic, Mizuno said, has added complexities to her role and the changes they seek to make, but she looks forward to reviewing the recommendations and responding to the OCPC in a year from now.

“This year has been unique with the coming of COVID-19 in March… really, it’s been a struggle to move forward on some issues, it’s a challenge,” she said.

“We cannot watch our community without the trust of the public and it is very important that we build and maintain that trust. We are committed to continuing to do so as we move forward.”

A report released Friday by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission, after a two-year investigation, made 37 recommendations to the Windsor Police Service and the Windsor Police Services Board.

The 72-page report addresses racial diversity, the low representation of women in police services and recognizes that there should be more transparency in the process of hiring chiefs and deputy chiefs, among others.

It also recommends improving policies on how investigations involving the chief or deputy chiefs are handled.

Former Toronto police officer Jake Shen said he didn’t think the recommendations were enough.

“It’s a little disappointing to be honest,” he said. “I don’t think these recommendations [go] far enough.”

He said the recommendations could have been more specific, especially when it comes to how the police department can have more transparency in their hiring and promotion processes.

The lack of transparency, Shen said, “creates this problem, this curtain, which creates this perception of mystery and injustice.”

He added that this perception of injustice can be “toxic”.

One of the suggestions Shen said he would have liked to see is the department employing an independent third-party company to conduct recruiting interviews and review promotions so these processes can be more objective.

Shen predicted the report would have implications for police departments across the province, but now says it was a “missed opportunity.”

“I think a lot of officers may be disappointed as well… personally I thought it was going to be a lot deeper and more daring,” he said.

“I think this is a missed opportunity, it could have been a wake-up call or a change for all police services in Ontario, but unfortunately it didn’t go that far.”

The Ontario Civilian Police Commission (COPC), an independent oversight body under the Police Services Act, launched an investigation in May 2018 following several complaints from Windsor Police members raising serious concerns about the working environment.

The first complaints filed between January and April 2018 cited concerns about “inappropriate interference in specific legal proceedings”, allegations of a “poisoned work environment” and the transparency of the hiring and promotion process.

The investigation was also expanded to include how a 911 call was handled at the home of former Windsor Police Chief Al Frederick in November 2018. The call and investigation were first reported. by CBC News, several months after the incident, citing concerns about the lack of transparency by police departments.

The report says the incident raises “significant systemic issues.”

“The Service and / or the Council should have reported to its members and publicly about this event as soon as possible,” the report said.

He says the policy approved by the police commission in April 2020 does not adequately address how investigations involving a boss should be handled. The OCPC report says the new policy does not provide guidance on when an external investigation should be carried out.

But the report also states that the officers who responded in the 911 case all acted professionally, that Frederick acted appropriately in reporting the incident to the police board, and the board did what it wanted. was necessary by referring the matter back to the OPP for independent review.

The report includes 13 recommendations related to diversity

The report identifies complaints filed by officers regarding gender equality in the workplace.

Windsor Police Staff Sgt. Christine Bissonnette said she was one of the complainants who launched the investigation.

She alleges in a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) complaint that she was screened out of several promotions because of gender bias. The HRTO has yet to rule on this complaint.

In the OCPC report, recommendation 11 begins by stating that “there is an under-representation of women sworn officers in the service”.

Many recommendations suggest ways for the service to engage with the community to remove barriers for women and increase its recruitment of female agents.

Another recommendation advises the service to proactively tackle racial diversity and said it expects the force’s new diversity, inclusion and equity coordinator to “play an important role in developing a proactive strategy to increase diversity within the service ”.

The OCPC said the service has made an effort to promote diversity and recognize that it has been successful in hiring officers from some communities, but not all.

“The service is certainly more diverse in religious affiliation or the origins of its members than ever before,” the report read. “In contrast, the number of black officers in the service has not increased at all despite the service’s recruiting efforts.”

The Service’s policy on harassment at work “suffers from significant shortcomings”

After receiving several harassment complaints, the commission also examined whether there was a “poisoned work environment” and whether the department has transparent processes for dealing with workplace harassment and human rights issues.

According to the report, the service’s current policy on workplace harassment has not been updated for nearly six years.

The report says the policy “suffers from significant shortcomings”, such as not describing, step by step, how informal and formal complaint processes work and the types of resolutions possible. Under existing policy, workplace harassment complaints against the boss or deputy boss must also be dealt with by the board and investigations are carried out internally, rather than offering the possibility of external reviews in case of need.

One of the recommendations is that the service create a new workplace harassment procedure that is “fair and transparent”.

Among other suggestions, he also advises assigning an investigator to work harassment investigations and, depending on the circumstances, the possibility of hiring an external investigator.

Windsor Mayor says report ‘will pave the way’ for future of service

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, who was elected chairman of the police council in 2015, released a statement on Friday in response to the OCPC report.

Dilkens acknowledged that the service had work to do, but noted that since the launch of the investigation, there has been a turnover of senior management, with the service gaining a new chief and two new deputy chiefs.

“No large organization, especially one as complex as the police service, is foolproof,” Dilkens’ statement read. “By receiving this report, the Board of Directors and myself as Chairman recognize that there are opportunities for improvement and we are committed to always striving to improve the level of public service we provide.”

The statement went on to say that the report “will lead the way” as the city’s police department continues to “modernize” and strengthen its relationship with the community.

Dilkens added that the OCPC has asked the board to report in a year, after reviewing the recommendations and taking appropriate action.

Windsor Police Chief Pam Mizuno also released a statement on Friday. “The commission’s report concluded that the service has much to be proud of and has introduced incremental measures to address some of the legacy issues of the service, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” it read.

The statement goes on to say that “the recommendations will help steer the department’s work towards a more respectful and harassment-free workplace that values ​​equity and diversity, with appropriate supervision and oversight, and ongoing communication between senior management. management and service members ”.