CIVIL LIBERTIES ASSOCIATION NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION FOUNDED 1968

ASSOCIATION DES DROITS CIVILS RÉGION DE LA CAPITALE NATIONALE FONDÉE 1968

 

Public Meetings

A large part of the activity of the Civil Liberties Association, National Capital Region, is devoted to organizing and sponsoring public meetings for debate on controversial issues. We have sought out knowledgeable people as panellists and have tried to have a balance in representing the opposing viewpoints.

 

Ontario Ombudsman André Marin spoke on "Effective Police Oversight in Ontario: Myth or Reality?" Sunday, April 22 at the Auditorium of the Public Library, City of Ottawa (Metcalfe and Laurier), 2-4 p.m. Click here to read about the event.

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A public meeting was held Sunday, December 4, 2011 at the Public Library, City of Ottawa (Metcalfe and Laurier) on police conduct. The auditorium was close to full and the discussion very animated. For press coverage of the event see the following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-p9c8NQjxs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SlOZ7L2qy0

Ottawa Citizen:http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Panel+looks+ways+eliminating+abuse+civil+liberties+within+police+service/5810118/story.html

Daryl Davies supplied the text of his address, which follows below.

POLICING IN THE NATIONS CAPITAL: AN EXAMINATION OF THE PROBLEMS FACING THE OTTAWA POLICE SERVICE
Presented to:The Civil Liberties Association (Ottawa): Civil Rights & Liberties, Law Enforcement, Police Action and Police Conduct

By

Professor Darryl T Davies
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Carleton University

December 4, 2011
Background

It’s not my intention today to review the various aspects surrounding the recent cases that have resulted in lawsuits against the Ottawa Police Service. Rather, I plan to touch on the salient points that together with these lawsuits define what I call a ‘serious policing problem’ in the City of Ottawa.

According to figures released by the Ottawa Police Services Board a total of $85,671 was paid out in settlements against the Ottawa Police Service in the first nine months of 2010, $486,500 in 2009 and $162,750 in 2008. With the ongoing five lawsuits against the Ottawa Police Service the total is now in excess of 4.4 million dollars.

According to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) 300 complaints have been lodged against the Ottawa Police Service since that Office was officially opened in 2009. The statistics indicate that when compared to all police agencies in the province of Ontario, the Ottawa City Police Service has the second highest number of officers being investigated for sexual assault on a per capita basis. In addition they have the highest rate of criminal charges filed against officers on a per capita basis and the highest rate of investigations against sworn officers in the province of Ontario on a per capita basis.

So the question we have to ask is whether all of these incidents are the isolated acts of a minority of rogue officers in the Ottawa Police Service or a systemic problem that is ubiquitous across the entire police service? Given the number of complaints and lawsuits it’s not unreasonable to conclude that the problems affecting the Ottawa Police Service are ‘systemic’ in nature. What we are hearing about are only those cases reported in the media where the acts of officers involved have been captured on video in the police cellblock.

However, when an accused person is taken into custody, roughed up or abused by police and then released without being formally charged, there is no official record of the incident. As a result we do not know what the ‘dark figure’ of police abuse is or exactly how pervasive the problem is in the City of Ottawa as these cases likely represent just a fraction of the total number of cases in which citizens have been abused by some member(s) of the Ottawa Police Service.

Issues

One problem is that some Ottawa police officers are regularly ignoring the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The fact a significant number of criminal cases are being compromised as a consequence should be of concern to the public. For example, in the Stacy Bonds case, Justice Lajoie stated that some police officers in the Ottawa Police Service are either unaware or are simply not complying with judicial rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada governing strip searches. Recently, the Deputy Chief of the Ottawa Police Service said he saw nothing wrong in the video regarding the treatment of Roxanne Carr. He said he felt his officers acted professionally and in accordance with their training despite the fact that both Roxanne Carr and Stacy Bonds allege that they were stripped searched in the presence of male police officers.

A second problem is that in the five lawsuits against the Ottawa Police Service, several officers stood around and watched the events unfold and did nothing. This despite the fact police are legally bound to ‘serve and protect’ and prevent crime even if it means protecting civilians from abuse by other officers. The fact none of these officers intervened to protect these citizens is a serious concern. Moreover, it’s troubling that none of them have been charged under the Police Services Act of Ontario with discreditable conduct.

Third, the majority of incidents involving alleged abuse and excessive force by police officers are occurring at the police station where police should have command and control of the situation. Controlling police in the field where they are away from direct supervision is understandably difficult but the fact these incidents took place in settings under direct control of the police should cause serious concern to senior officials in the Ottawa Police Service.

Fourth, there is ample evidence from police studies that the police subculture drives a wedge between the police officer and the community by encouraging loyalty to the ‘thin blue line’ rather than to the code of conduct and the rule of law. In the admissions process, psychological tests are designed to screen out unsuitable candidates from police work. What these tests do ‘not’ measure however is the future impact that on the job policing and the police subculture has on the individual officer’s attitudes and personality. As Arthur Niederhoffer points out in his classic work ‘Behind the Shield’ “Police authoritarianism does not come into the force along with the recruits, but rather is inculcated in the men through strenuous socialization. It is the police system, not the personality of the candidate that is the more powerful determinant of behavior and ideology.”

One of the greatest misconceptions the public and the media have about police work is that its’ primarily one of law enforcement. Nothing could be further from the truth. Studies and work place assessments show that more than 85 percent of all police work involves peacekeeping and order maintenance activities such as: directing traffic, finding a missing child, crowd control and settling disputes among neighbors etc. In light of this fact, the question we have to ask is whether current training programs for police officers have failed to evolve with 21st century Canadian values and freedoms? Is too much emphasis in police training being placed on use of force scenarios, physical fitness programs and firearms competency while other important areas such as human relations skills on how to communicate and interact with the public are being largely ignored?

For example, what training do police officers receive in mediation and alternative dispute resolution? What communications skills and techniques are they taught so they know how to deal with citizens in a peaceful and non-confrontational manner? What are recruits being provided in terms of race relations, gender, sensitivity and civility training in our multicultural Society? Perhaps the time has arrived to change the length, approach and content of police training in Ontario so that it more accurately focuses and reflects the issues, values and realities of our modern democracy?

In such a limited time, it’s not possible to propose a comprehensive solution to solving the problems confronting the Ottawa Police Service. However there are a number of recommendations that if implemented could go a long way to addressing the most important problems with the Ottawa Police Service.

Proposed Solutions

First, before any remedial action will be effective the Chief of Police has to publically state that there is a problem with the Ottawa Police Service. It’s not good enough to simply say that because they have installed more surveillance cameras in the cellblock with audio capability that the major issues in the Ottawa Police Service have been fixed. The problem is ‘not’ with technology but with the attitudes that some police officers have in the City of Ottawa towards the public and especially the marginalized citizens of our community that drastically needs to be changed.

Second, statistics submitted to the Ottawa Police Services Board indicate that over a four year period, complaints against police officers for the use of inappropriate comments/language, represents 14.5 percent of all complaints against the Ottawa police. It is an offence under the Police Services Act of Ontario for a police officer to use “profane, abusive or insulting language or is otherwise uncivil to a member of the public.” As one prominent criminologist states: “Most citizens who have contact with the police object less to their use of four-letter words than to ‘how’ the policeman talks to them. Particularly objectionable is the habit policemen have of “talking down” to citizens, of calling them names that deprecate them in their own eyes and those of others.” (Al Reiss, Police Brutality). A training program that focuses on communications and human relations skills should be instituted immediately in the Ottawa Police Service to address this problem.

Third, the Chief and ultimately the Ottawa Police Services Board has to work with the Ottawa Police Association to develop a five-year strategic plan that addresses the major issues that are identified as a priority. Such a plan needs to be built from the ground up and not from the top down. Furthermore, the process should involve consultation with independent experts outside the Ottawa Police Service in the plan’s design, development and implementation.

Fourth, issues such as training, mentoring, improved morale, race relations, dispute resolution, mediation skills and the development of effective communications techniques for dealing with the public should be at the top of this list of priorities.

Fifth, a significant number of criminal charges against accused persons have either been dropped by the Crown or dismissed in court in the past six months as the result of charter breaches by some members of the Ottawa police service. In my opinion, the Ottawa Police Services Board should initiate a study to determine the nature, extent and frequency with which criminal charges are being dropped against accused persons because of charter violations by some officers in the Ottawa Police Service. In addition officers should be tested on their knowledge of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms so that they know and understand the rights of citizens under the Constitution.

Sixth, psychological tests should be administered at a minimum every five years especially to officers who have accumulated a number of charges of discreditable conduct. Senior officers or officers at the lower ranks who are promoted should also be retested as a condition of both their employment and suitability for promotion within the police service.

Seventh, the Ottawa Police Service needs to create a ‘best practices’ model that will guide them in meeting their future policing goals. It is surprising that such a model does not already exist within the Ottawa Police Service.

Eighth, the police administration for the Ottawa Police Service must remind officers that when they take an oath of office to become a police officer that their sworn allegiance is ‘not’ to the police subculture but to the public they serve and to the rule of law. A clearly written statement of policing principles as it pertains to the code of conduct under the Police Services Act of Ontario should be communicated to the rank and file of the Ottawa Police Service.

Ninth, the police administration for the Ottawa Police Service has to send out a strongly worded message that they have a zero tolerance policy towards police misconduct and that any officers involved in such activity will be charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This message must go out not only to the rank and file, but also to members of the public, so that it is absolutely clear that police officers will be held accountable whenever they break the law and that they will ‘not’ operate as though there is a double standard of law enforcement in this City—one for police officers and another for the community.

Finally, the Ottawa Police Service has to remember that like all public sector organizations it’s trying to provide a service to an imperfect world. Police officers are recruited from the general population –once they divorce themselves from this fact and characterize the public in an ‘us versus them’ dichotomy they lose not only their perspective but their sense of purpose, direction, self-respect and eventually their connection to the community. When that happens, public respect for the police diminishes and the rule of law and ultimately our democratic freedoms are jeopardized.

In conclusion, I would like to leave you with the following quote about policing from the book ‘Police Powers: Law Order and Accountability (2009) by Bill Van Allen:

“Police service is one of the highest forms of expression of public trust. Society’s sense of fair play is offended when police officers---“the good guys”---who are supposed to represent and defend society’s moral code, act as if they were somehow above the law themselves. Courts are quick to exclude evidence obtained as the result of flagrant breaches of individual rights if to admit the evidence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute—regardless of the nature or the severity of the charge.”

Professor Darryl T Davies, BA MPHIL (CRIM) Cantab
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Carleton University

Tel: 613-520-2600 ext: 2605
E-mail: Darryl_davies@carleton.ca

Previous public meetings have been on the following subjects:

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