Exploring Theme: "Systemic Racism in Policing"

Kent Roach is a professor of law at the University of Toronto and is the author of Canadian Policing: Why and How it Must Change. The Globe and Mail: Between late August and early November, nine Indigenous men and one Indigenous woman died at the hands of police in Canada. Despite an emergency debate in Parliament and calls...

Toronto Star: When is this going to stop? Two weeks ago the Calgary Police Service revealed that three of its members are under investigation by an outside agency for their treatment of an Indigenous man — Jon Wells — who died in a well-appointed hotel lobby. This was the ninth such death across Canada in...

Globe and Mail: The chief of a southern Alberta First Nation is demanding a thorough, transparent investigation into the death of an Indigenous man in police custody. Blood Tribe Chief Roy Fox says the death of Jon Wells on Sept. 17 after a scuffle with police at a Calgary hotel, has brought back memories of...

An analysis of race-based data shows Calgary police used a disproportionate amount of force against Indigenous and Black individuals in the city last year. Toronto Star: CALGARY – An analysis of race-based data shows Calgary police used a disproportionate amount of force against Indigenous and Black individuals in the city last year. The Calgary Police...

Jon Wells died Sept. 17 while in the custody of Calgary police officer. Photo: APTN File Warning: This story contains distressing details, please read with care APTN News: The police oversight agency in Alberta has released disturbing information about the fatal police arrest of Jonathan Lee Wells last week in Calgary. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team...

Report finds police acted reasonably due to the circumstances  The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team. Photo: APTN file  APTN News: The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, or ASIRT says police acted reasonably in the case of a Sucker Creek First Nation man who was arrested and later hospitalised for several days. On Dec. 11, 2021...

Cree man died after witnesses say he was tasered APTN News: A Cree man shot and killed by Edmonton police officers on Dec. 3 was remembered at a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening. Friends placed photos and a wreath on a tree near where the shooting occurred in downtown Edmonton. A poster identified the victim as...

‘It was clearly a use of force that was intended or likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm,’ ASIRT says CBC News: Originally posted, April 27, updated April 29 – An Edmonton police constable who kicked an Indigenous teenager in the head — leaving him with life-altering injuries — won’t face criminal charges even though Alberta’s police...

Pacey Dumas and his family spoke to the media about the announcement there would not be excessive force charges  This article has a brief mention of suicide APTN: The family of Pacey Dumas, a young man who sustained serious injuries at the hands of an Edmonton police officer say their lives have been changed forever....

Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO) – “Only 53% of murder cases involving [Indigenous] women and girls have led to charges of homicide. This is dramatically different from the national clearance rate for homicides in Canada, which was last reported as 84%” (NWAC, 2011). Governments and Canadian institutions now need to fully implement the Calls for Justice....

MacDonald-Laurier Institute – “Systemic racism in policing in Canada and approaches to fixing it,” argues that the fault for this lies primarily with political leaders who set the framework conditions and constraints for the delivery of police services. This commentary is based on the author’s written submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on...

The CBC “Deadly Force” database indicates that the RCMP are 3x more likely to use lethal force than other police forces in Canada. The CBC data found that 68 per cent of people killed in police encounters were suffering with some kind of mental illness, addiction or both. “When we get broader statistical information that...