Police no mirror of Peel
Lack of diversity among officers raises questions of racial bias
The racial makeup of the Peel police force does not reflect the diverse community it serves, data obtained by the Star shows.
Statistics provided in August by Peel police show that 13 per cent of the force’s 1,961 uniformed officers were “racialized persons” (visible minorities) in 2010.
Data provided by Peel police on Oct. 7 which includes 2015 hirings, shows that just nine out of 58 senior officers, or 15.5 per cent, are visible minorities. In 2010, that number was 5 per cent. More recent numbers for all uniform staff were not provided.
Census data from 2011shows that 60 per cent of Brampton and Mississauga residents were visible minorities. The Ontario Police Services Act says forces should be “representative of the communities they serve.”
By comparison, on Toronto’s police force visible minorities make up 24 per cent of all uniformed officers. In 2011visible minorities made up 49 per cent of the city’s population.
Critics say a lack of diversity within a police force can lead to problems such as racial bias; the Peel force has been criticized for its use of street checks, also known as carding, a practice that involves officers stopping citizens and storing their details in a police database. Toronto police have also been condemned over carding and a province-wide review is looking at the practice. In both municipalities, black people are carded more often than white people.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie sits on Peel’s police services board. Three weeks ago, she demanded that Chief Jennifer Evans suspend the use of carding.
The chief refused. Crombie has now asked for a comprehensive review of the force’s hiring and promoting practices.
“Our goal is to develop a comprehensive action plan to ensure we have a local police force that is fully equipped to address the complex challenges that come with keeping our highly diverse community safe,” Crombie told the Star on Wednesday.
This week, the Star asked Evans about diversity on the force. Spokesman Staff Sgt. Dan Richardson responded Wednesday, “We do believe that having a police service that is reflective of our community, at all ranks, is very important and we are continuing to make great progress toward that.”
The Star recently obtained street-check data from Peel police that shows black people are three times more likely to be stopped than white people.
Asked if the number of stops involving black people could alienate the community from applying for jobs with the force, Richardson responded on behalf of Evans: “We continue to seek input from the community on how we can improve, especially in identifying what might be a perceived systemic barrier to hiring members of some communities.”
Anyone being carded — stopped for collection of personal information when there is no specific crime being investigated — can legally walk away from police.
Ontario Human Rights Commission interim chief Ruth Goba draws a link between the lack of diversity in institutions and potential abuses.
“We worked with several police organizations to help them look at their services and recruitment through a human-rights lens,” Goba wrote in an email to the Star. Such an approach “can help identify barriers and prevent human-rights issues,” she said.
Peel Region criminal lawyer Eugene Bhattacharya says many in the region are aware of what the numbers illustrate.
“This information is certainly not new to me,” said Bhattacharya, who is president of the Peel Criminal Lawyers Association and vice-president of Peel’s Law Association.
“Over time we certainly expect that the representation of the force will reflect the diversity of the community,” Bhattacharya told the Star on Wednesday after details on the Peel police force’s composition, which was obtained through a free- dom of information request, were shared with him.
“But we recognize right now that there is this discrepancy.”
He said some of the disparity can be explained by the rapid demographic shift experienced in Peel in recent years. Racial bias in policing can be one of the consequences.
“This is why the Police Services Act says in one of its guiding principles that the police force needs to be reflective of its community,” said Alok Mukherjee, former chair of the Toronto Police Services Board.
“My view is, this kind of diversity is critical to effective policing. It helps establish communication — creating trust, being able to have contacts in the community for gathering intelligence and ensuring the best candidates are being recruited.”
Mukherjee said that as Toronto police officers became more reflective of the community they serve, they became better able to deal with different types of crime, from gang activity to violence against women.
“You need to have certain cultural competencies in the force, and the ability to engage in effective policing.”