Professional Documents
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Project Inclusion - The Impacts of Police and Policing
Project Inclusion - The Impacts of Police and Policing
Project Inclusion - The Impacts of Police and Policing
Section One
The Impacts of Police and
Policing
As we made our way around the toward them was connected to public they’re breaking your rights, but
province, it became clear that safety. it’s your word against theirs, so
regardless of demographics or good luck. You’re better off to just
regions, both the police, as an A participant experiencing let them do what they’re going
institution, and policing, as a set of homelessness summed it up when to do, otherwise they just kick
practices, were top of mind for study she recounted a recent interaction the shit out of you and then do it
participants. In every community we between her boyfriend and a local anyway. – 175
visited, we learned that there were Royal Canadian Mounted Police
very high rates of interaction between (RCMP) officer: “Just about five days It is important to note that
police and people who lived in public ago, they came to our camp and they particularly in smaller communities,
space, with many people reporting called [name] a worthy target (181),” where people are known to one
that police approached them more she said. “And he was like, ‘How am another and the police, a single
than once a day. For the people we I a worthy target? I live in a fucking officer can have a profound impact on
talked to, these interactions were tent.’” the lives of the individuals with whom
only experienced as helpful in a they interact. In some communities,
Despite the concerns people had there were officers whose names
small minority of circumstances.
with police behaviour, few had ever became familiar to us within hours
On the whole, study participants’
made a formal complaint. Many of arriving because participants and
reactions to engagement with police
participants expressed that they service providers alike felt targeted
ranged from exhaustion at constant
are resigned to the fact that they and harassed by these officers.
experiences of displacement, to
are not considered credible when However, we need to place those
anger as a result of a lifetime of
they speak out against police due individualized experiences in the
harassment, to absolute fear.
to their homelessness, reliance on context of a set of institutional
As they attempted to survive with government assistance, use of illicit policing practices in BC. The striking
minimal access to resources, people substances, involvement in sex work, similarity and continuity of stories we
who took part in this study found it and criminal histories. heard across the province attests to
difficult to make sense of how the this idea.
Most of the time they don’t even
level of police attention directed
ask, they just tell you to get up
against the car. And I mean, yeah,
PROJECT INCLUSION 45
police if they were in danger or The cops were going to [take my
had been a victim of a crime. harm reduction supplies] and I said
that I work with these guys [the
POLICE INTERFERE WITH HARM street nurses], making sure that
REDUCTION ACTIVITIES people have this shit, and then
they left me alone after that. The
Despite a strong commitment to
street nurses tell folks to say that
harm reduction at the provincial
they’re working for them so they
level,89 police in communities
are harassed less by police and
across BC continue to disrupt harm
bylaw. – 105 (focus group)
reduction activities. In many cases,
policing practices misalign with local One woman explained that because
health authority initiatives aimed at police search suspected substance
reducing new HIV and HCV infections users for harm reduction supplies,
and preventing overdose deaths. people often hide or discard supplies
less safely. This leads to harms for
“That is a hell of a lot of We learned that in several
the individuals who are forced to
money to put out harm communities, harm reduction
use less safely. It also means harm
supplies provided by health
reduction supplies just authorities and local service providers
reduction supplies are more likely
to have the cops take to be left outdoors or improperly
are being seized or destroyed by
disposed of. Plus, health authorities
them, it’s stupid because police. One man told us:
have to purchase more supplies than
health gives them out.” would otherwise be necessary. “That
Police take all my supplies all the
– 221 time. I was doing what I thought I is a hell of a lot of money to put out
had to do and just because I had harm reduction supplies just to have
supplies doesn’t necessarily mean the cops take them (221),” she said.
that I had drugs on me all the “It’s stupid because health gives them
time, either, because I didn’t. Once out.”
in a while I had drugs on me, but
In some cases, participants reported
that is [neither] here [nor] there.
that the police in their community are
That is irrelevant. – 165
inconsistent in how they handle harm
Police seizure of harm reduction reduction supplies.
supplies points to a clear disconnect
There are times where I’ve had
between provincial health policy and
a pocket full of dope, and crack
policing practices. On the one hand,
pipes, and speed pipes, and shit
people who use substances are
on me. And they ask me if I have
actively encouraged to access clean
any pipes on me and I tell them
harm reduction supplies and on the
yes. And you know, sometimes
other hand, carrying those supplies is
they smash them, sometimes
resulting in punitive responses from
they just put them on the ground
police.
and walk away and say, ‘When I’m
One focus group participant gone around the corner, you pick
explained that police seizure of harm it up.’ – 28
reduction supplies makes it difficult
What is clear is that despite
for people who use substances
participants’ commitment to using
to engage in peer outreach. He
substances more safely, seizing harm
explained that local health nurses
reduction supplies does not deter
must educate people who use
substance use.
drugs not only about effective harm
reduction practices but also how to However, as one man explains,
avoid having supplies taken by police. seizing these health care supplies
does cause measurable harm,
89 The province supported Insite, North America’s first supervised consumption site, was the
first province to declare a public health emergency in April 2016 in response to the mounting
death toll from opioid overdoses, supported overdose prevention sites operating without S.
56.1 exemptions from the federal government, created a new Ministry of Mental Health and
Addiction in 2017, and supported the introduction of a new Overdose Emergency Response
Centre.
90 “Harm Reduction Guidelines”, BC Centre for Disease Control (2018), online: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-professionals/clinical-resources/
harm-reduction/canadian-best-practices.
91 “The BC Public Health Opioid Overdose Emergency: March 2017 Update”, BC Centre for Disease Control (17 March 2017) at 14, online: http://
www.bccdc.ca/resource-gallery/Documents/Educational%20Materials/Epid/Other/Public%20Surveillance%20Report_2017_03_17.pdf.
92 Heather Mann et al, “Findings and Analysis for Overdose Prevention Society”, Data For Good (2018) at 12-13, online: https://vancouver.datafor-
good.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/06/OPS-Report-Small.pdf.
PROJECT INCLUSION 47
“You’re avoiding them [the police] all the time, so it
pushes you further into like—into hiding, basically, and
you’re going to unsafe spaces or wherever, really.” – 313
have been convicted of a crime to One woman experiencing to reinstate an exemption for Insite,
be subject to a red zone. If a harm homelessness described being North America’s first supervised
reduction hub falls inside a person’s disrupted by police while using. injection site. Recognizing the
red zone, they could be charged with circumstances of people who use
a breach of a court order for being I…actually hadn’t had anything in drugs while entrenched in poverty,
in the vicinity of these services.93 two days because I was sleeping. the Court affirmed that fear of police
See Part 2.2 for a more complete So I woke up and I went to go can override everyday safety habits.
discussion of the application of red get some—I need to get myself This can lead to needle-sharing,
zones and their impact on health and unsick. I was so disgustingly sick, hurried injections in clandestine
safety. like could barely move. And I was locations such as back alleys, and
actually shooting up at that time the use of unsanitary injection
One participant explained his ongoing and I had the rig and I had flagged equipment. All of this, the Court
difficulty with accessing his local it, I was just about to push it in. acknowledged, can result in severe
OPS because of how police enforce And it was like, ‘You are under
red zones in his community, despite arrest’ and I looked over my
describing a notably positive working shoulder and there’s two white
relationship with his Probation Officer cops that came on to me. Two
(PO). guys…just like tackled me with
the rig in my arm. I was like, ‘I’ll
I had to get special permission go in, I’ll go in— just like to get
from my PO if I want to go to the myself better first,’ and they’re
[local overdose prevention site like, ‘No.’ And so, I had my hand
and harm reduction hub] there. on the rig, right. But then they—it
So, between certain times Monday was already in my vein. And then
through Friday…I had to carry that they bent it. And then pulled it
piece of paper on me. So, if I did out. So it kind of turned into like
get stopped while in my red zone a fish hook and ripped it out. And
I had my papers saying this was it was disgusting. And I grabbed
signed by my PO, saying it was it back and pulled the plunger out
okay. But a lot of times that didn’t and drank it. And then they’re like
matter. They arrested me, took me ‘You’re resisting arrest.’ – 313
in…then it would take me to get a
hold of my PO for them to release That experience affects how she uses
me out. Oh my God there were now:
times when I went all the way back
to jail, all the way down here to Keep it really hidden, definitely for
[location of cells] and then they sure—like go somewhere where
there’s nobody around…you don’t health and safety risks including
would release me from [location
want to do it in public, right. You’re infection, mismeasurement of
of cells] to fucking nothing. – 165
avoiding them [the police] all the substances to be consumed, and
Many communities do not have time, so it pushes you further into fatal overdose away from medical
an OPS at all, and several are only like—into hiding, basically, and aid.94
open limited hours each week. As you’re going to unsafe spaces or
The relationship between policing
a result, many people experiencing wherever, really. – 313
and harm reduction is a matter of life
homelessness are still using illicit
This woman’s experience supports or death. It is therefore critical that
substances in public space.
the evidence put before the Supreme police consider the circumstances of
Court of Canada in its 2011 decision people who are using drugs and who
93 Marie-Eve Sylvestre et al, “Red Zones and other Spatial Conditions of Release Imposed on Marginalized People in Vancouver”, (2017), online:
https://observatoireprofilages.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/vancouver-red-zones-report_2017-10-30.pdf.
94 Canada (Attorney General) v. PHS Community Services Society, 2011 SCC 44 at para 10.
95 SC 2017 c 4.
96 Melanie Webb, “Drug overdose act weakened by limited immunity from prosecution”, The Lawyer’s Daily (12 October 2017), online: https://
www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/4827/drug-overdose-act-weakened-by-limited-immunity-from-prosecution.
PROJECT INCLUSION 49
and help each other and bring each federally-sanctioned supervised uses drugs is living with an addiction
other back.” consumption sites. Yet many policing and is therefore in need of support.
agencies in BC appear to be working A person who deals drugs, on the
They do this, she said, because police in misalignment with public health other hand, is a person who needs
have “stood in the way and even agencies. One fundamental reason is to be criminally sanctioned. As is
cuffed people trying to administer that, despite widespread recognition the case with how we conceptualize
Narcan (313).” Asked why they of substance use as a public health what it means to be homeless in
don’t call ambulances anymore, issue, the possession of illicit the popular imagination, the way
she replied, “It takes a while to get substances remains criminalized. So we conceptualize people who use
there. A couple of minutes, like does trafficking those substances, and deal drugs does not hold up
usually you can just do it yourself despite the fact that for most users in the real-world, as the real-world
right away. And…usually the cops there is no legal way to obtain them. experiences of study participants
get there first…there’s cops [in the made clear. Several people who took
area]…the cops will be there before This sets up a paradox for people part in this study sell, trade, or share
the ambulance arrives…it’s…never who use drugs. A person can use small amounts of the drugs they use.
helpful.” a substance safely and without Procuring drugs is a way of helping
fear of arrest once they are inside out friends, of benefiting from
With the introduction of the GSDOA, a supervised consumption facility, economies of scale, and of financing
the government recognized that but it is impossible to secure one’s own substance use.
police interference at the scene those substances and transport
of an overdose, whether actual or them to the site without fear of In some cases, this informal economy
perceived, can deter people from criminal sanctions. As described is exploited by police, resulting in
seeking help. in participants’ stories earlier in the deliberate criminalization of
this chapter, this situation is made the very people the public health
Across the province, police need to
even more precarious by the fact response to the opioid overdose
embrace the spirit of the GSDOA
that police appear to be lingering crisis is meant to protect. While
so that fear of arrest no longer has
outside of OPSs and monitoring their conducting research for this project,
a chilling effect on calls to 911. This
clientele. we were contacted by a service
means treating overdoses as medical
provider who let us know that several
emergencies. In the event that police This contradiction is most obvious residents of the low-barrier shelter
are the first emergency responders in relation to simple possession, but where he worked had been charged
on scene, they should be intervening also points to the broader issue of with trafficking fentanyl. All of the
in a medical capacity only (such as criminalizing supply while attempting residents identified as being addicted
administering naloxone) and not to mitigate harms related to use. to fentanyl and were living in abject
using the call as an opportunity to
poverty in a homeless shelter. They
investigate or interrogate individuals One woman who was chastised for
had each been approached, over a
who have called for help. asking if anyone had cocaine for sale
period of months, by undercover
inside the local OPS summed up the
In addition, police need to recognize RCMP officers who asked them to
disconnect.
the experience and expertise of drug find them fentanyl. As a result of their
users who medically intervene during I’m talked down to…at the needle own need to finance their substance
overdoses. All police departments exchange down there. I said, use and/or willingness to help out
should also be encouraged to what the fuck [are] you [service another drug user in need, these
adopt policies of non-attendance providers]…doing here…[letting] people are now facing trafficking
in the event that overdoses occur, people come in here and do charges including newly increased jail
intervening only at the explicit needles and I’m not allowed to ask time for fentanyl trafficking.97
request of Emergency Medical for something, I said what the fuck
While conducting interviews, we
Services (such as in the event of [is] this place open for, then? – 13
heard similar stories, including this
violence or a fatality).
In the popular conversation and one from another RCMP jurisdiction:
Prohibition and Harm Reduction: A public imagination about substance
The trafficking charge was, a girl
Fundamental Conflict use, our tendency to categorize
come up to me just like you, and
people in binaries produces a false
As a province, we have invested she said ‘can you help get some
conceptual distinction between
in evidence-based programs that speed’…So I get the dope, I give
people who use drugs and people
approach substance use from a public it to her, get the money, give it to
who deal drugs. Even among people
health perspective, including the him, that’s it. If she had asked me
who believe that addiction is a
provision of harm reduction supplies, to fix her bike, if she asked me to
public health issue, conventional
grassroots OPSs, and supporting find her puppy, if she asked me
thinking goes that a person who
97 “BC Courts’ response to fentanyl”, Provincial Court of BC (15 August 2017), online: http://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/enews/enews-15-08-2017.
98 Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, “HIV and Hepatitis C in Prisons”, (2008), online: http://librarypdf.catie.ca/PDF/P48/HIVandhepatitisCinpris-
ons.pdf.
99 Fiona G. Kouyoumdjian et al, “Mortality over 12 years of follow-up in people admitted to provincial custody in Ontario: a retrospective cohort
study” (2016) 4:2 CMAJ Open at 153, online: 10.9778/cmajo.20150098.
100 Stephen Gaetz & Bill O’Grady, “The Missing Link: Discharge Planning, Incarceration and Homelessness”, The John Howard Society of Ontario
(2006), online: http://homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/The_Missing_Link_-_Final_Report_June_2007.pdf.
101 The National Clinical Guideline Centre, “Alcohol Use Disorders: Diagnosis and Clinical Management of Alcohol-Related Physical Complica-
tions”, The Royal College of Physicians (2010) at 15, online: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0047849/pdf/PubMedHealth_
PMH0047849.pdf.
102 The National Clinical Guideline Centre.
PROJECT INCLUSION 51
police frequently dump their liquor. because you dumped my shit…it’s are seemingly without meaningful
“We want to cry when they do that a vicious cycle. – 102 oversight or management, that
(108),” she said, particularly in cases is a departmental issue. In RCMP
when the police are disposing of Given the level of alcohol jurisdictions the issue is bigger than
the only bottle they have to stave dependence that an individual may any one detachment. Officers are
off the debilitating effects of alcohol be experiencing, the confiscation of sometimes moved from community
withdrawal.103 When we asked the alcohol may also lead to a situation to community, leading to a belief,
interviewee if she felt the police where that person has no choice but justified or not, on the part of
understood her circumstances, “I to resort to non-potable alcohol such participants in this study, that when
doubt it,” she replied. as hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol. an officer develops too adversarial a
relationship with the local population
While it is illegal to drink in public, it Two of our focus groups included
or engages in misconduct, they
is important to recognize that there participants in alcohol harm reduction
are simply moved to another town,
are harm reduction implications programs. Some belong to a drinker’s
where the cycle begins again.
when alcohol is seized from very co-op, wherein members pay a
marginalized and dependent drinkers monthly deposit in exchange for a In a number of cases, people report
who don’t have the option of drinking quantity of homebrewed alcohol. that they are often searched during
inside a private home or licensed Participants reported that this frequent stops by police. They do not
establishment. Some participants program had very positive impacts feel that they can say no.
reported that even unopened alcohol on their lives. Others participated in
is seized by police. Managed Alcohol Programs (MAPs), Interviewer:
where participants receive a certain They search you?
An Indigenous participant with a amount of safe alcohol at regular
history of alcoholism going back to intervals. These programs have Interviewee:
early childhood described a recent proven harm reduction benefits They ask me to empty my
occurrence in his life. including increased access to pockets, if they can look in my
housing, decreased non-beverage backpack. If you say no, you’re
We had two bottles of unopened alcohol (NBA) use, reductions in obstructing justice.
wine, we are waiting for hospital admissions, and reduced
somebody…Yeah, haven’t cracked Interviewer:
rates of police contacts.104
it. The cops just roll up and then Do they ever threaten you with
they’re like ‘Oh, let me see that that?
QUALITY OF LIFE POLICING AND
wine.’ They just dumped both on TARGETING PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN Interviewee:
us. I was like ‘What, it’s not even PUBLIC SPACE Oh, yes. Yes. And I think if you
open.’ We’re not doing nothing.
A consistent theme among study ask that question you find that’s
We’re just waiting and they just
participants who live in public space a normal answer, or at least for a
dumped the booze on us. – 102
and rely on low-barrier services, like certain percentage of us. – 318
He explained that losing alcohol soup kitchens, is that every element
Part of Pivot’s legal programming
has serious effects on his life and of their lives in monitored. Meeting
includes rights education. Our
his relationships in the community. even their most basic needs such as
organization produces wallet-sized
People complain about panhandling, sleeping and eating is complicated by
“know your rights” cards that include
he told us. But the police “are the police presence.
a written statement for police and are
reason…we are doing the cycle all
In one RCMP jurisdiction, the majority intended to be used during an arrest.
over again,” he said, describing the
of people who took part in this study When we arrived in one small town,
tough hustle of asking for change
talked about a specific bicycle officer we were excited to see that a local
after police confiscate his alcohol:
they felt was targeting them. The service provider was handing out the
I try to be polite and courteous officer was even disrupting access card. That excitement faded when
and stuff. And when people to food services, doing patrols in the we learned that the cards are not
complain about [panhandling], soup kitchen (294). changing police practice in this RCMP
the police—the reason why—like jurisdiction.
you know, they dumped our shit. While specific officers came
up repeatedly as the source of Interviewee:
And now we’ve got to go back out
harassment in some communities, Like I had that little paper thing,
there, get caught stealing, or you
the issue is larger than any one But…
know—why am I doing this? Oh,
“bad apple.” If problem officers
Interviewee:
No.
Interviewer:
The statement for police?
Interviewee:
Yeah…The [service provider] is
giving them out. Nope, they took
that too. – 102
Among participants in this study, the there is no winning, there is no place It’s ridiculous. They were on us
use of arbitrary stops was perceived for them to go.” this morning at 6 o’clock this
as less formalized than “carding” morning. They were on us in camp
operations in Ontario but no less Interviewer: this morning. Dead asleep, not
damaging. Many participants in And have you ever been able to bugging anybody and they come
smaller communities explained that use a tent or anything? and harassed us and told me that
there was no need for the police it was because somebody was
Interviewee:
to ask them for ID during a stop causing a disturbance. Everybody
No.
because all of the local officers in the whole camp is asleep. The
already knew their names, offering Interviewer: only one causing a disturbance
them no privacy. For the people who No? Is there anywhere you feel was that cop. They say they don’t
took part in this study, the reality of you could set up a tent if you want have protocol…they don’t have
living in public space means that the to? to make a quota but you watch
challenge of needing to find places to it in this town and you can tell
sleep, store belongings, and simply Interviewee: that’s not true because come
spend time is compounded by having Not here, no. the end of the month, they’re
to constantly avoid police. writing everybody up for nothing,
Interviewer: absolutely nothing. – 135
Several participants described the No, they would just…?
effects of having nowhere to go that Participants described the process as
is free from police engagement. Interviewee: an unending chase that completely
“There’s no place that I can sleep Destroy it. wears them down without resulting
during the day (74),” one person in any real change in their lives or in
Interviewer:
said. “Cops wake you up, people call the community at large.
Yeah. So, nobody here sleeps in a
the cops when they see somebody
tent? It’s horrible, I mean people are off
sleeping. It’s just crazy.”
on a trail, where you would never
Interviewee:
Another participant explained the even see them, they are certainly
No. – 395
police presence in her community not bothering anybody, why are
this way: “You see them riding up and In some communities with a you using all those resources for
down by the boulevards, harassing larger, more organized homeless police to go through the bush,
the same people, ‘Take down your population, policing of people living search for them, find them,
tarp (252),’” she said. “It seems like in public space is recognized as being ‘Okay you are two hours past the
more systematized. deadline,106 your tent should be
105 Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, “Ontario’s ‘ban’ on carding isn’t really a ban at all”, CBC News (18 January 2017), online: http://www.cbc.ca/news/opin-
ion/ontario-carding-ban-1.3939558.
106 Many municipalities have bylaws that allow for camping during particular hours in some places.
PROJECT INCLUSION 53
taken down.’ Really? I don’t get it,
it’s like a cat and mouse game and
it doesn’t seem right. – 252
107 Abbotsford (City) v. Shantz, 2015 BCSC 1909 at paras 209 and 276.
PROJECT INCLUSION 55
When asked if she continues to work rights to security of the person care if it’s day or night—you will
even when she is harassed by police, under s. 7 of the Charter. The get ticketed. I’ve seen them walk
she simply said “I have to.” Court recognized that the ability to past a guy that was just napping
communicate is an essential tool for in the park, obviously he had a
We also asked whether police sex workers that can decrease risks to house and parked his car there and
presence affects her safety because their health and safety.109 was napping on his lunch break,
she has to get into cars more quickly; and hassle and chase away the
she said “Always.” Communication allows sex workers homeless that are sitting there. I
to negotiate wages and terms get chased away, I get fined, I get
In a larger RCMP jurisdiction with a (including the use of condoms or harassed. – 332 (focus group)
well-known stroll, a woman explained safe houses) and screen clients who
how police use their presence to might be intoxicated or prone to Another participant from the
disperse women who are working violence. Police across the province same community explained that
by scaring away their clients, who must honour the spirit of that holding onto possessions is almost
are criminalized under Canada’s decision and refrain from impeding impossible because of bylaw
prostitution laws.108 the tools that sex workers rely on for enforcement activity:
their own health and safety.
Two nights ago, this is where all Sometimes they’ll just come
the working girls go…the cops, up, and if you are like, just over
they’re just parked right here—like Bylaw Officers and Private Security
there, they’ll grab your shit and
right where we are in this street. Participants noted that displacement, once it’s in the van, you’re done.
And they just put their cherries disruption of income generation, Yeah, if you’re getting coffee
[red emergency lights] on—like and seizure of belongings by police is or going to the bathroom or
not pulling anybody over, but just amplified by local bylaw officers and anything it doesn’t matter…
leave their cherries on just to kind private security. Anything and everything, like
of disperse anything. – 313 bikes, work clothes, like my ex
For years I slept outside one
actually works at a day job, he is a
This does not mean that women of the churches in town and a
construction guy and they threw
stop working. Instead, they are lot of other people that were
away his boots, and his helmet
dispersed to more isolated and less homeless would come sleep
and everything. I couldn’t believe
familiar areas. One woman explained outside there alongside me. They
it. – 416
how police harassment forces her put up signs saying no sleeping
to go back out to work in a more outside; bylaw [officers] would A third participant in the same
desperate state. “They’ve taken my come and go through people’s municipality explained that along
purse and dug through it you know, tents. They would destroy the with tickets, people are also forced to
taking my rigs and…they just take it. tents, destroy the property. They pay to get their belongings returned
No charges. They take my drugs, my could confiscate everything. They if they are seized by bylaw officers.
money (395),” she explains. “It’s hard could chase people away. RCMP, “If we want to go somewhere and
because I’ve worked all day for that the same as the bylaw, they keep warm, they are on us like flies…
and I worked the streets.” would do the same thing, they and they’ll confiscate your shit. Each
would destroy people’s property. belonging or thing is $40 [to get
In the end, this approach is at odds They would harass anybody for back] (100).”110
with the goals of keeping sex workers whatever reason. – 332 (focus
safe by ensuring they can take group) This same participant described
precautions while working and reach being ticketed under the
out to police if they need help or to In some communities, bylaw officers municipality’s anti-paraphernalia
report suspicious activity. target and ticket people who live in bylaw less than a year before:
public space on a regular basis:
In 2013, the Supreme Court of One time in the park, get this:
Canada found that laws prohibiting If I go into [Name] Park to use bylaw and the cops, they go
sex workers from communicating the outhouse after 11 and I get around together on their bikes
with clients in public are seen by bylaw, most of them and I am in the bathroom
unconstitutional because they have no problem writing a ticket. changing and I have two black
unjustifiably violate sex workers’ If you’re sleeping—they don’t sharps containers and she makes
108 For a full analysis of Canada’s prostitution laws and the impacts on sex workers, see Brenda Belak & Darcie Bennett, “Evaluating Canada’s Sex
Work Laws: The Case For Repeal”, Pivot Legal Society (2016), online: http://www.pivotlegal.org/evaluating_canada_s_sex_work_laws_the_case_
for_repeal.
109 Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford, 2013 SCC 72 at paras 158-159.
110 Authors were able to verify that local bylaws allow for this charge to be levied. We are not, however, able to cite to the specific bylaw in question
in order to protect participant confidentiality.
PROJECT INCLUSION 57
Many participants saw or experienced deserved. How many of us work
racism either by police departments on or near reserves and are getting
as whole, or by individual officers in fed up with the race card being
their communities. used every time someone gets
caught breaking the law? The CC
[RCMP officer] was transferred [Criminal Code] is there to protect
six months after he got there for the criminals and there’s a growing
harassing the citizens, mostly wave of hard working people who
Natives. Since he is targeting are sick of being victims of crime
race, it’s most of us Natives that without real justice.112
have the worst problem with him.
And I think he just has a problem These incidents are more than
with Natives…And the thing is, examples of “a few bad apples.”
he never even pulls out his book Individual actions are embedded
when he does it. He is not writing within a larger organizational culture
shit down. – 318 where racism has been allowed to
persist. RCMP Commissioner Bob
Individual actions are One non-Indigenous participant Paulson, speaking at an Assembly
embedded within a from the same community, who of First Nations Meeting in 2016,
is marginalized and uses drugs, recognized that anti-Indigenous
larger organizational explained that despite his own racism is a problem within his
culture where racism criminalization, he perceives a organization.
has been allowed to difference in how he is treated by the
persist. same RCMP officer: I understand that there are
racists in my police force. I don’t
I am not First Nations myself. But, want them to be in my police
well…I do see that I get treated force. I would encourage you all,
differently, my privilege. Yes, I do though, to have confidence in
have white privilege. Even me… the processes that exist, up to
just from my take of things, it and including calling me, if you
seems to me that he treats Native are having a problem with a racist
people a little differently than he in your jurisdiction, or any other
treats white people. – 239 problem.113
The same week we were reviewing Despite Paulson’s formal
this interview data, the Aboriginal acknowledgement that individual
Peoples Television Network (APTN) police officers can be racist and his
reported on racist comments on invitation to bring concerns forward,
a private Facebook group used by participants in this study felt that
police officers across Canada. police are always treated as more
credible than low-income Indigenous
One post by an RCMP officer claiming
people.
to police a First Nations community
on the Prairies responded to the One woman described how police
acquittal of Gerald Stanley in the racism plays out against people like
killing of 22-year-old Colten Boushie her, Indigenous people experiencing
in Saskatchewan: homelessness in her community:
This should never have been There are some cops out there
allowed to be about race…crimes [who are] really racist. There are
were committed and a jury found some of them that just do not like
the man not guilty in protecting street people. They treat them
his home and family. Too bad mean and nasty, say some nasty
the kid died but he got what he
112 Kathleen Martens & Trina Roache, “RCMP Facebook group claims Colten Boushie ‘got what
he deserved’”, APTN News (15 February 2018), online: http://aptnnews.ca/2018/02/15/rcmp-
facebook-group-claims-colten-boushie-got-deserved/.
113 “Racism within RCMP stirs debate over bad apples or systemic problems”, CBC Radio
(5 January 2016), online: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-janu-
ary-5-2016-1.3389695/racism-within-rcmp-stirs-debate-over-bad-apples-or-systemic-prob-
lems-1.3389736.
114 “Cells” refers to a jail cell in a police detachment. The cell may be a designated sobering cell, or a regular jail cell. The RCMP have an internal and
national cell policy, and each municipal police department has an internal cell policy regarding duration, medical care and release.
115 Besse v. Thom (1979) D.L.R. (3d) 657 (BC Co. Crt).
116 See Criminal Code s. 175(1)(a)(ii), Liquor Control and Licensing Act RSBC 1996 c. 267 s. 74(1)(2), or Offence Act RSBC 1996 c. 338 s. 91(1).
PROJECT INCLUSION 59
Interviewer: Interviewee:
So, when you were in cells for Yeah, they wrote it in the
those 11 days, you didn’t get your newspaper…and I was like, oh,
pills? they shouldn’t have even put my
name in there.
Interviewee:
No. – 108 Interviewer:
And they just wrote that they’d
Participants told us that there were picked you up 200 and whatever
few safe spaces for them to go times and put you in the drunk
where they could be free of police tank?
encounters. Even when they travelled
outside of town to sleep in the Interviewee:
bush, the police would arrive at their Yeah, I know, I know I’m an
encampment to take them to the alcoholic and got no place to stay.
drunk tank. – 12
“He dropped it onto One man who, like many project Another woman explained that drunk
participants, is homeless and lives tanks are largely an issue for people
the floor and crushed with alcoholism, shared with us his struggling with alcoholism and that
it with his boot and experiences with police. He told us it can be dangerous both because of
they were shoving chalk of instances of trying to sleep in his the risk of withdrawal and because
down my throat until I tent in the bush, only to have police people aren’t receiving care for other
puked and it still never “open it right up and they’re like, health conditions while there.
okay, you’re coming with us (12),” as
came up. And then he described it. They arrived at his They do that to mostly
yeah—that was a pretty tent, opened it, and took him directly alcoholics…And when they see
good beating.” – 90 to the drunk tank. While detained them, they take their booze and
in city cells, the police didn’t let him they dump it, and then they just
exercise, “didn’t let me out for a have a…bad attitude towards
smoke, they let me shower once.” He them. And then if they don’t listen,
stayed in city cells for 10 days. that’s when they [the RCMP]
start roughing them up…and
The experience of being held in city then some of these people [living
cells while detoxing from alcohol with alcoholism], they’re just
was particularly harrowing. “I got so—they get so sick [from alcohol
hallucinations (12),” he said. When withdrawal]. At times, they get
asked if he was given anything to help seizures. They don’t understand
him, he replied, “No…I know they that, them RCMP…
don’t understand what we’re going
through, right, because they’re not My friend, her boyfriend. They
alcoholics themselves.” threw him in the drunk tank…and
he needed his medication. Then
He went on to describe the frequency they found him dead the next
with which he is taken into the drunk morning. They didn’t do nothing;
tank and the public shaming he ‘It’s just another Native, they’re
received in the community: just drunk.’ When they say they
need medication, they should do
Interviewer: something about that. That just
How many times have you had to happened, not even a year ago or
spend the night in the drunk tank? last year, this time of year I think…
he had real bad seizures. I guess
Interviewee: I actually made a
he had a massive stroke too when
record in the newspaper: 286
he had his seizure. So, he passed
times.
away of that…
Interviewer:
They don’t check on people
Okay can you explain “in the
enough—especially when people
newspaper” to me?
have alcoholic seizures and stuff
like that, they can—one of my
PROJECT INCLUSION 61
“One of the officers, I don’t know, I can’t remember
everything, how everything went down, but had
somehow cut me by slamming me…palm in the ground
or something, he cut me, and another officer started
saying, ‘Oh, watch out for that, he is a fag, you know
you’ll get AIDS from him,’ and words to that effect.”
– 239
then carried him into the drunk tank. issue. They interviewed Indigenous communities with almost no
“They dragged me into the drunk women and girls, as well as service public transportation), while white
tank and then they slammed my providers, who reported that the girls in the same situation are likely
head on the ground, put their knees police appeared to target Indigenous to be driven home by the police.120
on my neck.” people for public intoxication arrests
and even abused their discretion We did not talk to youth as part
While there, he told us the police did by detaining people who were not of this project and therefore, we
not allow him to wear more than one intoxicated.118 likely missed this important area
layer of clothing to stay warm. When for inquiry. Human Rights Watch
he asked them if he could wear his Participants in the Human Rights recommended that BC expand non-
own sweater instead of the t-shirt Watch study raised a number of incarceration options for publicly
he had on, they denied his request. issues that directly mirror what we intoxicated individuals, including
When we asked if he saw a health heard in the course of research for sobering centres where medical
professional about his injuries, he Project Inclusion, such as being held personnel can provide appropriate
answered no and described how he for extended periods without food, care.121 A sobering unit is a short-term
feels when interacting with police: being kept in cold temperatures facility where intoxicated people are
“They don’t even care. If I like— if I without blankets, and being cared for until they become sober,
died in there, they wouldn’t even released with inadequate clothing, typically within 4-24 hours. This is
care. They would just like— oh, so— in grave danger of hypothermia and a recommendation that has been
you know, just assume—just assume frostbite.119 heard before in BC, including in the
because my history, because of my recommendations of the Davies
alcoholism, they’re just going to— One victim services worker told Commission Inquiry into the death
they’d just let me die. They won’t care Human Rights Watch that this issue of Frank Paul in Vancouver122 and
(102).” disproportionately affects young multiple BC Coroner Inquests.123
Indigenous girls: There are six sobering units in BC:
Concerns about the overuse of Vancouver, Surrey, Victoria, Duncan,
drunk tanks and the treatment Police routinely incarcerate
Nanaimo, and Port Alberni.124 In the
of Indigenous people in city cells Indigenous girls for intoxication
remainder of the province, the police
have been documented by other if they are found to have
may bring an intoxicated person to
researchers. In 2012, Human Rights consumed alcohol and are in
a jail cell or a hospital emergency
Watch visited 10 communities in need of transportation home (a
unit.125 Expanding non-incarceration
northern BC to investigate this particular challenge in northern
options for publicly intoxicated
118 Meghan Rhoad, “Those Who Take Us Away: Abusive Policing and Failures in Protection of Indigenous Women and Girls in Northern British
Columbia, Canada”, Human Rights Watch (13 February 2013), online: https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/02/13/those-who-take-us-away/abu-
sive-policing-and-failures-protection-indigenous-women.
119 Rhoad.
120 Rhoad.
121 Rhoad.
122 “Alone and Cold: Davies Commission – Inquiry into the Death of Paul Frank”, Davies Commission (12 February 2009), online: https://iiobc.ca/
wp-content/uploads/2016/03/davies_commission_report.pdf.
123 See for example BC Coroner files #2007-159-0012, 2008-0228-0303, 2008-0217-0158.
124 Vancouver (Vancouver Detox), Surrey (Quibble Creek Sober and Assessment Centre), Victoria (Island Health Withdrawal Management Services),
Duncan (Canadian Mental Health Association Sober Assessment Centre), Nanaimo (Island Crisis Care Society Crescent House), Port Alberni
(Alberni Valley Sobering Centre).
125 “Alone and Cold: Davies Commission – Inquiry into the Death of Paul Frank” (2009) at 176.
PROJECT INCLUSION 63
Nothing ever happened just because was lying, so they dragged him up too by the cops. It’s because
we’re drug addicts (153),” she said. right out and were like, ‘Quit your they thought that she was stealing
“They didn’t do anything.” bullshit,’ and now he’s in a cast. and then she didn’t have anything
Now they probably look at him and she got pretty banged up…
“No Way to Treat Somebody” and they can see he wasn’t [lying]. she uses a walker. – 84
– 170
The sense of injustice and the Despite these incidents, “most of
striking power imbalance between Sustaining injuries as a result of a them are good,” this participant said
citizens and police are widely felt police encounter is so common for of local RCMP officers, “But there’s a
among the people we interviewed some participants that they grow few of them that are, like, racist.”
for this study. Participants clearly felt to expect it. “I knew I had warrants
that police should be working to a and I was going to get arrested Another participant told us about
higher standard than they are in the anyway (313),” one participant how elders are particularly vulnerable
community. told us, describing an incident in a to injury.
McDonald’s restaurant where police
Another participant, in the same Because they are elders they have
burst through the bathroom door
RCMP jurisdiction as the woman old injuries…they have to watch
that she was in and demanded her
whose husband was badly beaten how they do that. Sometimes
name. “They jumped on me outside
by police, told us about an incident they don’t know, so they [might]…
there and basically kicked the shit out
in which she tried to come to the aid rip their ligament or whatever
of me,” she said.
of her friend’s son while police were when they pull them back or when
beating him up. But she was met with It wasn’t the first time something like they put them in the car they are
even more violence. this has happened. hold[ing] you up this way and they
are trying to pull this way…it’s like
This guy is smaller…they got The time in the [location] over you are hurting their ligaments…
him, and they beat his skull on there, they did too. Like, my face their old injuries. They make it
the cement everywhere. They was all fucked up. In my pictures look like he is resisting [arrest]
knocked him out. So I jumped. even, you can see like there’s like or whatever when they are not,
I went underneath and I put my a big welt on my face, like on my and they put resisting on their
knees underneath his head, my skin was like taken down—like paperwork…when the person
hands were going through his taken—like hammer grinded off my isn’t…they still beat us anyways
back, the cop caught my hands face. – 313 they will say, ‘No, that’s not how it
twice, then he stopped, and then went.’ – 13
there was a bunch of other cops She was worried that she would lose
and around and then they pepper three of her teeth as a result of the These instances of police violence
sprayed me. – 289a injury. “When I was in jail, I went to go cause harm in their own right and
see a dentist because I thought they create an antagonistic relationship
The violence that the officers used were going to fall out. And she’s like, between police and entire
on her friend seemed excessive. “I ‘Whatever you do, just resist the urge communities of people.
didn’t know what he did, but that is to wiggle them if they go black, then
no way to treat somebody,” she said. they’re dead, they’re going to fall out.’ INACCESSIBLE, INEFFECTIVE
“No matter what they’ve done, you’re But I listened to her and didn’t wiggle COMPLAINT PROCESSES
a cop; you’re supposed to protect them. And about a year later now,
them.” Despite the high level of negative
they’re all, like, actually reset.”
interaction with police, most
Made to Feel like Liars participants in this study had never
Indigenous Elders Endure reported harassment or abuse. Most
Many participants in other regions Mistreatment did not feel like a formal complaint
shared stories of being injured by Several Indigenous participants was an avenue that was open to
police. shared stories of mistreatment of them.
Elders by police.
Last week one of my buddies was Interviewer:
trying to get back to the camp… I actually videotaped some elderly Have you or anyone you know
from what I heard the RCMP guy getting dragged around by ever made a complaint about the
went in there. I guess they heard one of the RCMPs here and I police officer?
somebody screaming around in showed it to [service provider].
there and it was dark and he was There is actually another woman Interviewee:
trying to go back to the tent, he too, this woman doesn’t even I did a couple of times, few years
actually broke his leg and the cops drink. She was shopping in No back.
were literally dragging him out Frills. She got accused of stealing
by the collar and they thought he or something and she got roughed
PROJECT INCLUSION 65
for a review by the CRCC.129 If the Women we spoke to in one RCMP fear of the police was paired with “a
CRCC is satisfied with the RCMP jurisdiction were so tired of the lack notable matter of fact manner when
finding (whether the claim was of accountability that they tried to mentioning mistreatment by police,
substantiated, or if misconduct was take matters into their own hands by reflecting a normalized expectation
found and discipline determined), gathering evidence. But they found that if one was an Indigenous woman
the file is closed. If the CRCC is not that process only led to more hostile or girl police mistreatment is to be
satisfied with the RCMP finding, the interactions with police. anticipated.”131
CRCC may send an interim report
with findings and recommendations The cops just creep up on you, In this context, the lack of an
to the RCMP Commissioner.130 like sneak up. The cops do accessible, fully civilianized
However, the recommendations are whatever they want basically. complaints process leaves
not binding on the RCMP, and the They don’t follow the book or marginalized victims of police abuse
CRCC has no legislative authority to code of conduct. And that’s why and harassment without recourse.
determine or enforce discipline. some people have been trying to
videotape things. But then they NO ACCESS TO POLICE
This process, and the role of the basically assault you and break PROTECTION
RCMP in investigating themselves, your phone if they see it or they’ll
Most participants in this study stated
may help to explain why people harass you, just make life really
emphatically that they would never
felt like there were no mechanisms hard on you if you try to expose
call the police if they were in trouble,
available to make a complaint in them for what’s going on. You
with only a small minority stating that
RCMP jurisdictions. feel like they’re kind of more of a
if the situation was dire enough they
gang themselves. They’re more
Interviewer: Has anybody, any may consider placing a call.
like—they’re just like they’re bullies,
of the people that have been basically. – 313 Given the high rates of violence
assaulted ever, tried to make a
against Indigenous women, women
formal complaint?
who engage in sex work, people who
Interviewee: are likely to experience or witness an
Given the high rates overdose, and people experiencing
They don’t let you. They just—they
don’t, the watch commander
of violence against homelessness, we are concerned
doesn’t let you do that. He hangs Indigenous women, that people who took part in this
up on you, he walks away, he women who engage in study do not believe that the police
doesn’t take, when you go to the sex work, people who are there to protect them or their
police station trying to talk to him, communities.
are likely to experience
he won’t come out and talk to
you. He just doesn’t let it happen.
or witness an overdose, One participant, a woman in her 40s,
and people experiencing stood out because when we met her
I’ve gone to it under community
she was in the midst of her first bout
and tried to file complaints in homelessness, we are
of homelessness and had no criminal
another community and they say I concerned that people record. She expressed surprise at
have to bring it up with the watch who took part in this what she perceived as the lack of
commander here. Well, how do
you do that when he won’t talk to
study do not believe that protection from law enforcement
the police are there to when she called for help because
you? – 153
she was afraid of her boyfriend while
protect them or their
Other participants, expressed fear of living on the streets. “When I asked
communities. the police, I wanted help, like I wanted
retaliation if they spoke out against
police. One Indigenous woman we to go away for the evening (252),”
spoke with has experienced violence she said. She was looking to stay in a
at the hands of police, but when protected women’s shelter or a place
These findings mirror Human Rights where she could go without fear of
we asked if she felt she could ever
Watch’s 2013 findings from northern her partner finding her.
complain to anyone about it, she
BC, where researchers described
replied, “No. And if we do, we get
levels of fear they would expect to They phoned, ‘Everything’s full,’…I
even more harassed (71).”
see in post-conflict countries such thought, what do you mean, like I
as Iraq. They went on to note that did not understand, so you mean
129 “Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP”, Government of Canada (11 Aug 2016), online:
https://www.crcc-ccetp.gc.ca/en/complaint-and-review-process-flowchart.
130 “Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP”, Government of Canada (11 Aug 2016), online:
https://www.crcc-ccetp.gc.ca/en/complaint-and-review-process-flowchart.
131 Rhoad.
132 Rhoad.
PROJECT INCLUSION 67
British Columbia is a province where at least 2,443
people died of overdoses in 2016 and 2017. It is where
Indigenous women have gone missing and been
murdered at alarming rates. BC is the site of a continuing
epidemic of physical, sexual, and colonial violence against
sex workers, trans, Two-Spirit and genderqueer people,
youth in the foster care system, and Indigenous people—
people who face intersecting barriers in all facets of their
lives, some of whom participated in the Project Inclusion
study. The experiences they shared overwhelmingly point
to an indisputable problem with how police and policing
practices interact with vulnerable people. This must be
resolved through swift and determined leadership by
federal, provincial, and municipal governments working
in partnership with affected communities.
an ambulance attendant? And swift and determined leadership by We can learn a lot about what
phone you and say ‘Well, your federal, provincial, and municipal genuine community-based policing
doctor wants to see you.’ ‘Oh, governments working in partnership could look like in BC from stories
okay, I’ll come right out.’ Instead of with affected communities. about individual officers who have
boot the door, come in, and four built trusting relationships with the
big giant guns…There’s usually A LEGACY OF MISCONDUCT, A participants in this study.
four of them. One with a Taser, LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY
one with pepper spray, one with Now [Indigenous officer] walks
Commissioner Wally Oppal, QC with another white cop…And he
handcuffs and the other one with
found that “the initiation and conduct doesn’t throw his weight around
a club or a gun. – 358
of the missing and murdered like the other cops do…he talks
British Columbia is a province women investigations were a blatant to them. And when we see [him],
where at least 2,443 people died failure.”134 That failure is rooted in we wave at him…you know,
of overdoses in 2016 and 2017.133 It racism, misogyny, and contempt for communication…He deals with a
is where Indigenous women have people who are homeless, people lot of the Natives downtown and
gone missing and been murdered who use drugs, and people who do I’m glad he does because I have
at alarming rates. BC is the site of sex work that appears to persist in known him back in my reserve. –
a continuing epidemic of physical, policing institutions across BC. In 13
sexual, and colonial violence the context of Project Inclusion, a
against sex workers, trans, Two- complex array of serious allegations Another participant told us about an
Spirit and genderqueer people, arose against police. But when we extraordinary offer she received from
youth in the foster care system, discussed what people wanted from a police officer one freezing night.
and Indigenous people— people a police force, their answers were
fairly straightforward. She noticed that I had dropped a
who face intersecting barriers in
blanket behind when I was picking
all facets of their lives, some of
I just want them to know even cans and bottles. And she had
whom participated in the Project
though my circumstances are asked very sincerely, ‘Do you have
Inclusion study. The experiences
messed up at this moment some place to go? Are you going
they shared overwhelmingly point
and I’m an Aboriginal, I may be to be warm enough? We can give
to an indisputable problem with
alcoholic, I may be homeless, like you a place at the RCMP station,
how police and policing practices
I have rights. I need like—I need not that you would be under arrest
interact with vulnerable people.
them to know that. But they don’t or anything like that.’ But it was
This must be resolved through
care. – 102 really cold that night. She actually
133 British Columbia Coroners Service, “Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths in BC January 1, 2008 – July 31, 2018”, (22 August 2018), online: https://www2.
gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/statistical/illicit-drug.pdf.
134 Wally T Oppal, “Forsaken: The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry Executive Summary”, Missing Women Commission of Inqui-
ry (19 November 2012) at 26, online: http://www.missingwomeninquiry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Forsaken-ES-web-RGB.pdf.
135 “Report into Workplace Harassment in the RCMP”, Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, Government of Canada (25 April
2018), online: https://www.crcc-ccetp.gc.ca/en/report-workplace-harassment-rcmp#toc.1.
136 “RCMP Sexual/Gender Harassment Class Action Settlement Website – FAQ”, Kim Spencer McFee Barristers P.C., online: http://www.rcmpclass-
actionsettlement.ca/faqs.htm.
137 Colin Perkel, “Landmark deal in RCMP sexual-harassment class action wins court approval”, CBC News (31 May 2017), online: http://www.cbc.
ca/news/canada/british-columbia/rcmp-sexual-harassment-class-action-1.4140138.
138 Report into Workplace Harassment in the RCMP.
PROJECT INCLUSION 69
Many of the stories we heard from people about their
interactions with police on the street closely mirror the
stories of discrimination, harassment, abuse of authority,
and lack of transparency and accountability that have
been identified as endemic within the RCMP.
suggestive material, including a The Human Rights Watch report, of the Minister of Public Safety,
fictional frontier scene with an RCMP “Those Who Take Us Away,”140 is confirms that such problems
officer in uniform with a burlesque based entirely on conversations continue to persist in the RCMP.
dancer in costume performing what with Indigenous women and girls Despite the known problems,
appears to be oral sex on him. The about their relationships with police the RCMP has been slow to
secret men-only Facebook group in northern British Columbia. That change. While senior leaders have
was apparently set up by RCMP report details that in five of the developed a host of “action plans”
employees in BC, but has members ten towns they visited, they heard and “initiatives,” there has been
from across the country. The CBC allegations of rape or sexual assault little real change in the day-to-
was unclear how many of the 700 by police officers.141 day experiences of many RCMP
members of the group were current members and employees; rather,
RCMP officers, but was able to There is also reason to believe that their trust in the organization has
confirm that administrators for the the RCMP will not change of its own only eroded further.142
group request regimental numbers accord. On February 4, 2016, with the
before adding people to it.139 lawsuits ongoing, newly appointed The Commission’s report only looks
Federal Minister of Public Safety Ralph into RCMP harassment in the context
There is reason to believe that sexual Goodale requested that the CRCC for of the workplace. However, the report
harassment is not limited to women the RCMP undertake a review of the states that:
working inside of the RCMP. We RCMP’s policies and procedures on
did not ask questions about sexual workplace harassment. The resultant Increasingly, such problems are
misconduct, but a few women who report lays out a series of ongoing also eroding the trust of the
took part in this study reported sexual concerns about the organization’s Canadian public, who are asking
harassment by police. ability to protect its workers and whether the RCMP’s internal
offer a workplace free from abuse of problems have “filtered outside”
Interviewee: authority and harassment. and affected the treatment of
You know in 2005, I was supposed members of the public.
to be on house arrest, right, for 18 Over the last several decades,
months. And a cop phoned me the reputation of the Royal The people who came forward and
and asked if I wanted to go to the Canadian Mounted Police has shared their experiences as part
movies. been tarnished by a seemingly of this project are members of the
endless stream of reports of public, and among some of the
Interviewer: workplace harassment, sexual most marginalized and stigmatized
Really? harassment, bullying and residents of BC. In many of the
intimidation. These problems towns we visited, we were forced
Interviewee: to put limits on the number of
have been well documented by
And I told my probation officer participants we could speak to
external reviews, surveys, media
about it and he got shipped out of and the amount of time we could
reports, and lawsuits. Indeed,
town. spend on each interview. It became
the most senior leaders in the
organization have themselves apparent very quickly in the course
Interviewer:
acknowledged that bullying and of our conversations that no one
He got shipped out of town but
harassment are endemic and that had ever come to their community
you don’t know where to?
RCMP organizational culture must to ask about their experiences with
Interviewee: change. This review, conducted police, nor did people feel they could
No. – 84 by the Commission at the request access an appropriate channel for
139 Manjula Dufresne, “Men-only RCMP Facebook group crosses line of conduct, say female RCMP members”, CBC News (14 February 2018),
online: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/men-only-rcmp-facebook-group-crosses-line-of-conduct-say-female-rcmp-mem-
bers-1.4533910.
140 Rhoad.
141 Rhoad.
142 Report into Workplace Harassment in the RCMP.
Recommendations
1. The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General and the ii. ensure that civilian investigators and civilian staff
Attorney General, working in full partnership with historically members are responsible for the entirety of the
marginalized communities and communities with high complaint resolution process; and
levels of police interactions, must develop a set of guiding
iii. allow the OPCC to audit police complaints each
values and principles for policing in British Columbia that are
year, particularly where they involve discrimination
grounded in human rights.
based on race, gender, poverty, or health status,
2. The Attorney General must take immediate action to and publicly report on areas of concern for further
increase access to justice for people who believe they have investigation or reform.
been the victims of excessive force, discrimination, or
3. The Director of Police Services must develop the following
harassment by police by:
Provincial Policies for all policing agencies in British
a. dedicating legal aid funding for: Columbia:
i. a clinic to support people to make police complaints a. a Provincial Policy governing police interactions with
through summary advice, short service, or full intoxicated persons, in partnership with people who use
representation based on the needs of the individual drugs and people living with alcoholism, and fund the
and the nature of the complaint; implementation of the Policy. This Policy should make it
clear that:
ii. public legal education workshops and materials
to help people navigate the process of bringing a i. police interventions with a person who is intoxicated
lawsuit against a police officer or police force; and must be minimally impairing on liberty and officers
must make the security of the person (health) the
iii. legal representation for families and/or victims in
paramount consideration in determining whether to
instances of police-involved serious injury or death to
apprehend an individual;
facilitate full participation in a Coroner’s Inquests and
civil actions. ii. city cells are not the appropriate place to bring an
intoxicated person for their own safety or other
b. amending the Police Act to expand the mandate of the
therapeutic reasons. Alternatives to detention
Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) in
including, but not limited to, sobering centres,
order to:
hospitals, and other community-based options must
i. ensure that all police officers and forces operating in be made available; and
BC fall under the mandate of the OPCC;
iii. where an intoxicated person must be brought into
cells, their health care needs shall be paramount and
health care visits will be mandatory.
PROJECT INCLUSION 71
b. a Provincial Policy on harm reduction which should i. a strong statement that explains to all police forces
include: the harm caused by the confiscation of homeless
people’s belongings;
i. a directive to deprioritize simple possession of
controlled substances and an overview of the harms ii. deprioritize confiscating homeless people’s
of confiscating substances (including alcohol) from belongings, especially necessities of life such as
people with addictions and limited resources; shelter, clothing, medication, and important personal
items; and
ii. a directive to never confiscate new or used syringes,
naloxone, and other harm reduction and overdose iii. a directive to issue receipts for belongings and cash
prevention supplies; where they must be taken, with instructions for how
to get them back.
iii. a statement that harm reduction supplies,
whether new or used, are not a basis for search or e. a Provincial Policy detailing people’s right to privacy in
investigation; and tents and informal living structures akin to the right to
privacy in private residences.
iv. a directive that local police forces work with service
providers to develop bubble zones around safe 4. The Director of Police Services must work with the
consumption sites, overdose prevention sites, and Independent Investigations Office and the Coroners Service
other harm reduction sites, taking into consideration to audit deaths and serious injuries in city cells in BC over
policing practices that may deter access including the past 10 years, including an analysis of race, disability,
visible presence, arrests in close proximity, housing status, and gender, and make the findings and
undercover operations in and near, and surveillance recommendations for reform publicly available.
of people using the service.
5. The Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs (MHMA) must
c. a Provincial Policy on police attendance at overdoses make a province-wide commitment to supporting homeless
which includes: people to maintain their belongings and to ensuring that
homeless people have access to services without fear of
i. a directive not to attend at drug overdose calls,
losing their possessions. The MHMA must partner with local
except where requested by Emergency Health
governments in collaboration with groups of people with
Services—usually in the event of a fatality or threats
lived experience, to train local bylaw officers:
to public safety; and
a. to recognize and respect the belongings of homeless
ii. a clear statement that the role of law enforcement
people; and
at the scene of a drug overdose is to deliver first
aid if they are the only responders available, or to b. to work effectively with people experiencing
protect the safety of Emergency Health Services homelessness to clean up or discard belongings
and members of the public, not to investigate the where there is a pressing public safety, access, or
individuals or circumstances at the scene unless environmental need to do so.
police determine that there is an urgent public safety
6. The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, in
concern, for example, if violence is occurring at the
partnership with the MHMA, should issue a directive stating
scene.
that no public funds may be used for private security patrols
d. a Provincial Policy on confiscation of belongings by on public property, including in public parks.
police which includes: