Police Misconduct: Defund the police

‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ is a call for reform

Prior to the emergence of the In Ottawa, the OPSB ignored the now seeing the results of two decades COVID-19 pandemic Ottawa volumes of research and evidence that of the militarization of the police and Police Services (OPS) Chief Peter completely disproves all claims that the move away from ‘guardian police’ Sloly announced plans to hire thirtymore police are required in this city. to a ‘warrior police’ mentality. The one new police officers. He received What is required is a better allocation preponderance of police brutality cases quick approval for the request from of public funds. Instead of hiring more in Canada and the sheer ridiculousness the Ottawa Police Services Board police, the funds should go to health of their response in hundreds of cases (OPSB), despite the OPS currently and social services workers who are shows the extent to which the police having over a dozen officers on fully better equipped to deal with people in are the wrong people to be sent to paid suspensions for misconduct that is crisis. adjudicate matters involving wellness costing taxpayers in the millions checks or mental health. The of dollars in settlements. . . . 80 per cent of what police officers reason for this is that they virtually receive zero training when it In keeping with their reputation do has nothing to do with crime. comes to responding to calls where for tepid oversight, the OPSB rubber stamped the request Ironically, most of the calls people are having a mental health breakdown or a negative reaction without consideration. When the deal with issues police are not trained to drugs. pandemic arrived, the ‘new hire’ plan was put on hold. or qualified to manage, especially In recent weeks we have seen cases involving people in a mental individuals die in horrific Contrary to what Chief Sloly claims, there is no empirical health or related crisis. circumstances who certainly wouldn’t have died had mental evidence or data to show that health experts responded to the hiring more police officers equals less Research evidence indicates that 80 call rather than the police. There have crime and it is one of the greatest per cent of what police officers do has been several people killed by police myths in policing today. Unfortunately, nothing to do with crime. Ironically, when they were called by relatives to this idea is bought lock stock and barrel most of the calls deal with issues do a ‘wellness check’ on the individual. by politicians and politically appointed police are not trained or qualified to In Toronto, a mother called the police service board members who manage, especially cases involving police to check on the wellbeing of often lack any experience for their people in a mental health or related her daughter. The woman fell to her roles. As a result, they tend to let the crisis. Less than 20 per cent of police death from her apartment after the Police chiefs ‘run them’ instead of the time deals with matters related to police arrived. In May, an Indigenous other way around. crime and law enforcement. We are man in New Brunswick with mental

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health problems was shot to death by the RCMP during a ‘wellness check’ and in June a man experiencing a mental health crisis was shot and killed by the Peel Regional Police. If there is anything to be learned from these deaths its that there is a particularly good chance that if the police are sent to do a ‘wellness check’ their response may be to kill the person.

The senseless and unjustified killings of citizens by police who are supposed to be protecting them must stop now and this will only happen if police service boards start holding Police chiefs to account instead of being their patsies.

Incredulously Chief Sloly believes that problems will get worse if funding is redirected to mental health professionals rather than police. This simplistic and illogical thinking is directly responsible for the large number of people who have mental health issues in this country who have been shot dead by the police. Most police chiefs simply cannot or do not want to see outside the police box. This tunnel vision is an affliction that is a pandemic among police agencies in this country. When citizens are calling to Defund the Police, they are not saying that they do not want police. For sure there are criminals and bad people in society who must be dealt with by the police. There are multiple jobs related to criminality for which we depend on the police. Dealing with gang violence or violent criminals or people is one thing. Drug addiction and mental health issues are a completely different matter and require a different response. Police are not the people who are trained to deal with the diverse social issues that are confronting our towns and cities. I once asked a retired member of the RCMP if he would call the police if his wife, brother, or friend had a mental health breakdown. He said no. When I asked him why, he said they would kill them.

Part of the problem is that federal, provincial, and municipal public servants have views on policing and criminality that are shaped by what they watch on television or at movies, rather than from reality and research. Governments must stop appointing people to boards and commissions to deal with police issues who have zero knowledge, education, and experience in the criminal justice system.

The problem of appointing unqualified people to these boards because of their political connections must come to an end. Consider the Ottawa Police Services Board. Not one member of the board including our mayor has any experience or education relating to the police or any aspect of our criminal justice system. This is disturbing because it means we have people making decisions that are not based on evidence but mere opinion. This is the reason policing in this City is in such a horrible mess and there is rampant misconduct and misogyny on the force. Addressing the systemic police misconduct, criminality and racism that plagues the Ottawa Police Service requires oversight by people who are prepared to hold the OPS and its chief accountable. Until this happens, the misconduct will continue.

Now is the time to get our priorities right. Instead of spending millions of dollars to hire thirty-one new police officers the money should be spent on hiring nurses, social workers and other educated, qualified professionals who have expertise in areas such as mental health and addiction. These people should be partnered with police and have the authority to make the decisions when responding to people in crisis

In the 21st century we need to respond to individuals in crisis utilizing 21st century approaches and solutions. The old practice of sending in unqualified people, militarized, authoritative people with firearms to address a person with a mental or social problem has resulted in the unnecessary deaths at the hands of police of hundreds of innocent people over the past two decades. Citizens want reform and that is why they are calling to Defund the Police. As a society we must send the appropriate professionals to help people in crisis rather than shooting them to death n

Darryl Davies is a professor at Carleton University in the department of Socialogy and Anthropology.