ADDRESSING SYSTEMIC RACISM
Chief tabs his top priority for 2021
Ensuring Calgary police officers understand the effects of systemic racism in the force will be a key priority in 2021 for Chief Mark Neufeld, after a year that put police conduct under the microscope.
Neufeld characterized the past year as challenging for the Calgary Police Service, during a wide-ranging year-end interview. Officers were at the centre of massive protests against racism and police brutality, discussions on police accountability, and a movement to “defund” police that played out at city council.
In the summer, city council's systemic racism public hearings drew people from Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) communities in Calgary. Many described experiences of being stopped and profiled by police, and called on the service to confront a legacy of racism and brutality.
At the same time, this year's CPS citizen satisfaction survey demonstrated a “pattern” of mistrust of Calgary police among BIPOC residents, showing a decline in perceptions that officers respond fairly to all communities across the city.
“I think the year that we've had in 2020 has underscored the role of the Calgary Police Service in our city,” Neufeld said.
“We did see, obviously, the concerns from the portion of the population around systemic racism and police brutality in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in May. There were discussions after that about the type of services that are being delivered by police and `is there an overreliance on police?'”
In June, Neufeld acknowledged systemic racism in the force, saying it's a problem he may have denied had he been asked just weeks earlier. But those comments appeared to rub some officers the wrong way, according to a recent employee engagement report.
Neufeld said helping officers understand the roots of racism in policing remains a work in progress, but he's confident that attitudes within the force can be reformed.
“A lot of people, I think, felt like I was calling members of the Calgary Police Service `racists.' I heard from members on the front line that they were actually stopping members of the public and they were saying `you're a racist, your chief even says so,' ” Neufeld said.
“Obviously, that's not what I was saying. Things were tough enough this year without the perception that you don't have the support of the chief, so I do understand, for those people who were thinking that.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing Calgary police to adapt operations, communication has been one of the many challenges faced this year, according to Neufeld. He said he's hopeful that conversations in 2021 between CPS leadership, officers and racialized Calgarians can help bridge understandings and change attitudes on the issue.
Those conversations will build on anti-racism commitments by CPS this year, according to the chief.
“There were people in our city marching in our streets and speaking in our municipal building and talking about their lived experiences in our city,” Neufeld said.
“We had to step back a little bit and say, there's obviously some voices that we either hadn't been listening to or hadn't been hearing for whatever reason. If we're going to be the police service for all Calgarians in a city that is the thirdmost diverse in the country, we're going to have to pay attention to what they're telling us.”
Earlier this month, CPS called for public applications to join an 11-member anti-racism committee tasked with “identifying systemic barriers to accessing police programs and services.” The committee will assist the force in developing its anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion strategy.
Calgary police have also committed to collecting race-based data following criticism this past summer, as well as to reviewing the School Resource Officer program.
Neufeld said police must continue a dialogue with groups such as Black Lives Matter to understand their concerns — something he admitted hadn't been taking place before this summer, since he became chief in mid-2019. He said the biggest thing missing in the force's anti-racism work is meaningful “connections” and “relationships” with the community.
“It's an inflection point and it's an opportunity,” he said.
“But it's hard. You have some people that say, `Well, we're not out to abolish the police, we just want to defund the police,' and then you go down to the protest and the people right in the front are holding up a sign saying `abolish the police.' ”
Neufeld said he is not a supporter of the concept of defunding the police, declaring it's “not a safe way to go” and wouldn't be “smart” from a public safety perspective.
But he said he's in favour of “redefining the police” — including a discussion on the types of calls CPS may not be best suited to attend — and potentially reallocating some of the force's $400-million budget toward community initiatives. Neufeld said both officers and members of the public have indicated that CPS members aren't ideal first responders for calls relating to mental health, for instance.
“We're not necessarily doing a great job when we go to some of these calls after hours. We're not able to bring what people need and then people aren't getting
connected to the services, necessarily, that they really need, once the businesses open up again in the morning,” he said.
“My hope with this is that we're going to be able to divert some of that demand over to the people that can actually provide more of a long-term solution.”
In November, city council considered reducing the police budget to address gaps in crisis and outreach services, as Calgary police suggested shifting $8 million to those initiatives in 2021. Council instead opted to pull $8 million from city reserves, stopping short of slashing funds designated for police.
That took Neufeld by surprise. But he said he doesn't feel council “took the bat out of our hands.”
The chief said CPS will propose new ideas at the next Calgary police commission meeting in late January on how to invest funds that “complement” council's allocation to the community safety investment framework.
Bonita Croft, chair of the Calgary police commission, said council's decision gives CPS “flexibility” to think about how police funds can be used for “alternative service delivery models,” as well as work being undertaken “on anti-racism, equity and diversity.”
“As we go into 2021, I think we know what needs to be done,” said Croft.
“We know that we need to rebuild trust in some parts of the community and I think we are really well-placed to do that work.”
POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY REFORMS KEY IN 2021
Amid calls for change to policing strategies in 2020, many Calgarians expressed concern about officer misconduct, brutality and mechanisms for ensuring accountability.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team — an independent, civilian-led agency staffed by seconded police officers — handles investigations of deaths or serious injuries when police are involved. But some say it's been ineffective, with some investigations taking years to complete.
Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu has promised an expedited review of the province's Police Act, which governs Alberta's municipal police forces and deals with officer discipline. The review is expected to be completed in 2021, resulting in what Madu has said will be a “functional complaints resolution process.”
The legislation, passed in 1988 with few updates since, is “antiquated,” according to Neufeld. He said he hopes the review will lead to the formation of an independent ombudsperson or body tasked with receiving and triaging complaints about officers from members of the public.
That would help establish trust in the complaint review process and CPS itself, Neufeld said, adding he believes further resources and “expanded capacity” for ASIRT are also needed.
The chief said he also wants a modernized, efficient disciplinary hearing system for sworn officers, comparing the current approach to “the old military court martial model.”
“If you're a civilian member of the Calgary Police Service, you have a more modern regime to work under. But if you're a sworn member of the police service, you're basically going to a court martial,” he said.
“That doesn't feel very good and it takes a long time. It's a very difficult situation, in terms of basically just trying to manage your workforce, having to do it that way.”
Croft agreed that resolving complaints about police actions needs to happen more quickly. She said the community also wants “to have more of a voice in the process.”
“They want to feel heard,” she said.
“We really hope as a commission that the changes that are coming to the Police Act will address both of those concerns, that we will be able to work through issues and get resolution to matters more quickly than we currently are able to, and that there are opportunities ... to focus more on the remedial actions that the community needs.”
Croft pointed to recommendations from an independent use-of-force review, completed in April 2018, which provided advice to help Calgary police establish a better understanding of mental-health concerns, improve oversight and emphasize de-escalation training.
The chair of the civilian oversight body said she expects CPS to conduct an evaluation next year on the effects of body-worn camera implementation, one of the report's recommendations, and how that program “can be further refined and improved.”
In a statement this fall, Calgary police admitted that “the system needs improvement” following the trial of Const. Alexander Dunn, who slammed a handcuffed woman to the concrete floor of a police station during an arrest processing in 2017. A security video showed the woman's head bouncing off the floor with Dunn holding her hands behind her back.
Dunn was found guilty of assault causing bodily harm earlier this month.
Neufeld called video of the assault “horrible to watch” and said Dunn's status is under review. He said CPS won't wait for the appeal process to play out before initiating an internal disciplinary review.
He said questions regarding accountability are fair, but “we do have a good system in the province,” pointing to cases in which officers were charged and subsequently dismissed from their jobs.
“People are frustrated, and rightly so, by the amount of time that it takes,” Neufeld said.
“As an insider, I can tell you that I've never seen police services not do the right thing. I would say that accountability, generally, is not the issue. The timeliness seems to be the bigger issue.”