Vancouver chief denies systemic racism
Palmer concedes individual officers may be racist and says relations with Indigenous and Black communities need improvement
Racism is a persistent scourge in Canadian society, but not a systemic problem in the country’s policing, says Vancouver’s top cop.
Vancouver police Chief Adam Palmer isn’t denying the presence of officers with racist views within police forces in Canada. But Palmer, who is also president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, says the suggestion of systemic racism — usually defined as racism entrenched within an institution — in Canadian policing is not only untrue but “offensive.”
Not everyone agrees with Palmer’s assessment. The head of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association said she found Palmer’s statement offensive in its own right, citing several recent examples, including this week when new allegations surfaced of disturbing misconduct by VPD officers.
In a wide-ranging interview last week, Palmer discussed his thoughts on the current moment, in which protesters around the world are pushing for reforming, defunding or even abolishing policing as we know it, and many politicians, including in Vancouver, are responding with their own calls for change.
These are “extraordinary times” unlike anything Palmer has seen in his 33 years in policing, he said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of Vancouver starting in March, police officers, without the option of working from home, carried on working in the community through uncertain times.
During those early weeks of the pandemic, Palmer recalled, members of the public showed their gratitude for police officers and other front-line workers in a “really receptive, warm, thoughtful” way.
But late last month, things changed.
George Floyd, a Black man, died in Minneapolis, Minn., when a white policeman pressed his knee into the back of his neck for more than seven minutes. It was far from the first time an unarmed Black man was killed with seemingly egregious brutality by a white cop. It was not even close to the first time such a killing was caught on video and widely broadcast.
But Palmer points to Floyd’s killing as the spark for what he called a “tidal change where we saw police becoming vilified,” with protests engulfing cities around the world.
“Almost overnight ... just because of something that four cops did down in Minneapolis, that had a ripple effect, not just through the United States but through Canada and the whole Western world: Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe, it’s everywhere,” Palmer said.
“We saw a lot of people jumping on this train, that ‘policing is broken and has to be fixed and police are violent and police don’t have proper training and police are racist.’”
Palmer signed a public statement earlier this month on behalf of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, saying “police leaders across Canada are deeply saddened and disturbed by the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis,” calling for accountability for the officers involved, and “peace, justice, and healing ... for everyone who has been hurt and impacted by this.”
“Racism is painful, inexcusable, and cannot be tolerated,” the statement said.
But the statement also says that Canada and the U.S. have very different approaches to policing. This was a point that Palmer stressed again in last week’s interview, saying Canadian police have, for many years, focused on community engagement and proactive crime prevention, while U.S. departments have grown increasingly militaristic.
Asked about racism, Palmer replied that VPD officers face more rigorous scrutiny, screening, training, and oversight than most other police agencies, particularly their American counterparts.
Pressed on the subject, Palmer said: “Are there officers in my department that might have racist views? Yes. And in other parts of Canada? Yes, I’m not naive. And there are people that I’m sure have got, you know, really negative thoughts and feelings and inappropriate ways of looking at the world, and may have racist views or hatred running through their veins. But if they do, they’re hiding it. And I’m not seeing it.”
Palmer said when he talks to his own officers from minority communities, he doesn’t hear reports of cops mistreating co-workers or members of the public “with any sort of racist tendencies.”
“So that’s why I’m not going to be one of these police leaders that’s saying that there’s systemic racism in the VPD because I don’t buy it. And, actually, I find it offensive to even suggest that,” Palmer said.
Harsha Walia, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, says she believes Palmer’s statement is what’s offensive.
“It’s an appalling comment,” Walia said.
There is “ample evidence” of systemic racism in policing in Vancouver and across Canada, Walia said, citing recent local examples including a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ruling in December finding VPD officers had discriminated against an Indigenous woman, and the case of the Indigenous man and his 12-year-old granddaughter handcuffed by police the same month at a Vancouver bank.
“We have study after study, including government-commissioned reports, that demonstrate we have an issue with systemic racism throughout our justice system, which includes our legal system, our courts, and our police,” Walia said.
On Thursday, the BCCLA and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs issued a press conference with new allegations of misconduct by two VPD officers.
Researchers were conducting “ride-alongs” with Vancouver cops last year, examining complaints of discriminatory policing practices, and alleged that one officer made “a number of inappropriate, racially insensitive comments” and another “made inappropriate comments about vulnerable and marginalized people, had anger issues, and was overly terse and extremely rude to a member of the public.”
Walia said she believes the situation highlights the “gaping holes” in the current police oversight system, which she believes is not sufficient.
It’s a concerning allegation, that VPD officers may have made racially insensitive and inappropriate comments about vulnerable people, even during ride-along when the cops knew they were being watched by researchers investigating a complaint about police discrimination.
But perhaps the bigger question is why and how those seemingly very relevant details were included in a draft report but then omitted from the independent consultants’ final review into the VPD’s “street check” practice, published in December, which concluded “the available data and information could neither confirm nor deny police racism or bias.”
Asked about this, Palmer said that while any allegations of officers making inappropriate comments doesn’t “sit well” with him, he described it as “a perfect example” of the stringent oversight to which the VPD is subject.
The VPD, upon learning of the allegations late last year, Palmer said, contacted the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner requesting an investigation.
That agency has called the allegations “concerning” and said it will ensure a diligent investigation.
Although Palmer rejects the idea systemic racism is a problem in the VPD, he said his department is listening to the community and still needs to make more progress.
“Our relationship with the Indigenous community, in particular. We’ve had a history where we haven’t done well there, but we’re doing much better now,” Palmer said. But we always need to do better with different communities, the Black community, the Indigenous community and others. There’s more improvement to do, believe me, we’re not where we need to be.”