This week, RCMP Commissioner, Brenda Lucki, says racism is not systemic in her organization, a message echoed by Alberta RCMP Deputy Commissioner, Curtis Zablocki. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau however disagrees with them and said racism is systemic in the RCMP and all over Canada. It’s important to highlight that this disagreement came at a time when the indigenous Chief, Allan Adam was brutalized by RCMP officers, the RCMP hierarchy defended them even when the video came out with the Chief’s face bloody and battered without any provocation.
“…I’m not so sure if there it is systemic in the CPS…if you asked me before I would have said no…,” Calgary Police Chief Mark Neufeld struggles to find a safe spot at a press conference as he is not sure on what part of the systemic racism spectrum his organization falls. One of the first police bosses in the country to answer this question to match the statistics is the Edmonton Police Chief, Dale McFee who said systemic racism exist in every community in Canada, including the Edmonton Police Service (EPS).
As a matter of fact, 75% of Canadians believe there is discrimination in Canada, and 61% think systemic racism exists in Canada according to an Abacus Poll. After police officers squeezed precious life out of George Floyd, the unarmed BLACK man in the US city of Minneapolis, there have been protest all over the world calling for police and justice reforms, Canada inclusive, Alberta as well, and our fantastic Edmonton too.
The first step for change is to accept our shortcomings and accept that there is systemic racism in order to change. Unfortunately, those who cannot accept the reality cannot lead us into change. Even though Commissioner Lucki seems to be an impediment to the racism reforms that the Prime Minister proposes, he however goes ahead to make this statements, “Reforms are needed at all levels of policing, men and women in uniforms must be part of this change,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in the press conference today, June 12, 2020.
At a press conference on June 11, 2020, Chief McFee said his unique experiences in government and in police services across Canada and abroad makes him the best fit to lead any change. The passionate police boss said it’s time to change, and he wants to lead Edmonton into that change.
The Chief said that the EPS has already started that change with diversity in hiring of new police officers, changes to multicultural advisory councils, bringing in new expertise on board to help with change, and willingness to engage and work with the community to foster the much needed change.
“…we’ve hired diversity in an extremely aggressive manner…,” Chief McFee shared with the media present in a Zoom call on June 11, 2020, in Edmonton. In recent years, EPS has actively recruited visible minorities into the service. From data provided by the EPS, there has been a steady growth of visible minority hires from 12% in 2016, to 26% in 2019. The Chief says he will be grouping all different Chief’s Liaison Committees so they can learn and connect with each other.
The elephant in the room was the petition from Black Lives Matter to DE-FUND the EPS and divert the funds to social services such as homelessness and mental health. Well, although a good conversation starter, Black Lives Matter de-funding call does not call for dismantling of the police but to divert new funds to other under-funded vital projects like homelessness and mental health.
The Edmonton Police Chief says the EPS is already working with social workers to enhance safety and well being of Edmontonians who call the police. If the EPS gets into the de-funding territory, the Chief said the first to go will be the programs they already have in place, followed by the hiring of new and more diverse officers, response to calls, homicide, and many more services.
Some respected BLACK community leaders in Edmonton like Kemoh Mansaray, Board member of the Africa Centre in charge of Community Engagement, Member of the City of Edmonton’s Advisory Committee on Public Engagement, and former president of the Sierra Leone Community in Edmonton has a different take on DE-FUNDING the police.
“Yes, I do not wish to disband the police force but the following will be some of my suggestions. “1. Some years ago we had what was called Police Academy which brings the police to our community to understand us as we understand them in that way we will build trust. This means taking police officers out of their offices and patrol cars and placing them on foot patrols throughout the community. 2. Setup Civilian Complaint Review Boards or Systems with community oversight of police is crucial to establishing greater accountability, and this is especially true in communities of color”. Mr. Mansaray’s suggestions are two of over 30 suggestions that Diversity Magazine has collected in the Black community with just two out of 30 calling to disband the police.
Well, Chief McFee said he’s fine with civilian oversight. As someone who wants to lead EPS into change, Diversity Magazine wanted to know the next steps charging into a bright future. The Chief has already accepted that there is systemic racism and is ready to lead us into change. He said the EPS is already working on improved data collection, input into the Police Act even before this post George Floyd period, working with community partners, and getting communities together. Carding is a no but street checks will continue as legitimate police work.
Temitope Oriola, a professor of criminology at the University of Alberta, part of the BLACK community, he likes what he sees and hears so far, but with some question marks on carding. “The tone of EPS Chief Dale McFee is a breath of fresh air. I appreciate that he has acknowledged that the EPS has issues to deal with. However, McFee cannot have it both ways. You cannot accept that there are issues while defending practices that facilitate and evidently demonstrate systemic discrimination. McFee’s claim that the EPS does not engage in carding is syntactic obfuscation. The EPS does the same thing as carding by a different name. These street-level practices are done in the thousands every year according to his testimony before Edmonton Council. The practices overwhelmingly affect black and indigenous youth”.
While the Chief has lots of agreements with majority of people in the BLACK community and has accepted the realities of systemic racism to forge a bright future ahead, the Chief a minority himself, a metis, he seems to have some work to do on the hot button issue of carding. He is also proud of our diversity, “Our diversity is our strength…we don’t celebrate it enough…,” Chief McFee shared.
Alberta Justice who is responsible for the Police Act, the legislative backing for long term change, is planning closed door meetings with police Chiefs whom you can tell are not at the same level on the hottest topic of systemic racism. We will bring you updates on that.
The 12 Edmonton Councillors and Mayor Don Iveson have responded with a draft proposal to freeze police funding and other stuffs. It seems our honorable political leaders have found a scapegoat in the police while they ignore issues within our city. Well most of them who influence the decisions have not experienced racism. Multicultural communities have been calling for actions on systemic racism too in the City of Edmonton as they struggle to get funding for their projects, they are not promoted or hired to senior management in the City of Edmonton, hire BLACKS into the Police Commission, you name the rest – racism is systemic not just a police problem and multicultural communities need police reforms, diversity on City’s boards and committees, protection for those who speak out, and City of Edmonton management staff that looks like the population of Edmonton that it manages, education reforms, support for homelessness, and mental health, all independent of police funding.
Well, public hearing on racism continues on Monday and we will keep you posted on the developments.
