Top politicians troubled by police culture

Workplace environment ‘overdue for a change,’ commission says

Calgary’s mayor and Alberta’s deputy premier say they are deeply concerned with allegations of sex assault, bullying and intimidation revealed in an internal workplace review of the Calgary Police Service.

“Whether you’re a politician, a police officer, a teacher, a support staff worker in an office, you should have the right to go to a safe, respectful workplace, do your job to the best of your ability and return home feeling respected at the end of the day,” deputy premier Sarah Hoffman said Monday.

“And that certainly didn’t appear to be what these citizens experienced in their workplace.”

The internal review of the force detailed claims of sexual assault, sexual harassment, bullying and intimidation. A report completed in November 2013 and recently released publicly also cited a workplace culture of “intimidation and retaliation” in which officers feel punished when they bring concerns forward.

Hoffman said she expects that other police services in the province are taking this situation as an opportunity to reflect on the protocol they have in place and how they can ensure a safe working environment for police officers.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said while he hasn’t had a chance to read the three-year-old document, he’s concerned about its contents. “It certainly is very troubling, very, very troubling,” he said.

“But I also note that it was a report that the police themselves commissioned and it was three years ago, and they’ve been working very hard on addressing these issues.”

The mayor said for the police service to work well, it has to be a place where people want to work, where people feel safe working, and a place the community has confidence and trust in.

“What I think is important is a police service that is rooted deeply in community-based policing, that is rooted in the concepts of community safety, and I still think that we are very, very good about this, that we have a lot to teach the rest of the world,” he said.

“But we are not perfect and we need to always strive towards being better.”

Coun. Ward Sutherland, a member of the Calgary police commission, also expressed worry about the document.

“Of course, we’re all concerned,” he said. “It’s showing that this has been a pattern.

“The positive end is that (former chief) Rick Hanson had the report done, we recognize the issues are there, they created a department just to deal with it and the program has started.”

Howie Shikaze, chair of the police commission, said in a statement the commission recognizes the “significant challenges” that women in policing have faced over the years, and that the culture in policing is “overdue for a change.”

“It is a priority for the commission to oversee this organizational evolution so that women at CPS experience an inclusive workplace with fair opportunities that is free of intimidation or retaliation,” said Shikaze, who was not available for an interview Monday.

“Earlier this year, concerns about the gender barriers and culture within by a small group of current and former members,” he added.

“On behalf of the commission, our public complaint director took immediate action to learn more about the concerns and to actively gather information to help the commission fully understand the nature and extent of the issue. This included examining some of the legislative barriers to flexible work options that would help members who are striving to balance work and family responsibilities.”

A CPS report was presented to the police commission in June 2016 detailing the force’s plan developed in response to the 2013 report.

Some of the steps that police have taken since the internal review include the establishment of an Office of Inclusion, which has handled complaints related to workplace culture.

But a recently retired senior police officer told Postmedia the problems within the force are huge.

“The report is absolutely spot on,” said the officer.

“And the Office of Inclusion is just a farce.”

As part of the internal review conducted in 2012 and 2013, an independent auditor interviewed 65 Calgary police employees.

Five officers interviewed by Postmedia said they are still afraid to speak out, and that they haven’t seen a noticeable change in the culture within the force.

Howard Burns, president of the Calgary Police Association, said the issues identified in the report are not “a widespread issue” within the Calgary Police Service, but that it is an area of concern.

“We have over 2,100 sworn members, and I believe there’s another thousand-plus civilian members that work for the police service, so I think you have to expect that from time to time, you are going to get these bullying, harassment complaints, and what’s important is how the employer deals with them,” he said.

“In recent years, they’re taking these complaints much more seriously ... They’re being looked at in a fair light.” Burns, who was at the meeting when Hanson ordered the review, noted the association just received a copy of the report.

“That in itself is a little troubling from our end of things, because this report was done a long time ago and it’s just being released now,” he said.

Burns said in the last round of bargaining, the association negotiated an article into the collective agreement allowing the union to grieve harassment and bullying if the police service does not take appropriate action to correct the behaviour.

Doug King, a professor in the department of justice studies at Mount Royal University, said the report is “quite sickening” to him.

“The fact that we haven’t known about it is disturbing on several different levels,” he said.

“This is just another bit of evidence that suggests that there’s something that has been going wrong within the Calgary Police Service for quite a while now.”

Rebecca Sullivan, director of the women’s studies program at the University of Calgary, has been working with the CPS for about three years through her consulting firm Diversity Leads. She said the CPS has made progress in that time.

“But it takes a long time to build that culture of trust, and it takes a long time to build a culture of transparency and accountability if there hasn’t been one solidly in place,” she added.

“They are trying and succeeding, but it’s a long path. It may be 2016 but we’ve still got a ways to go.”