Canada

OPINION: As the opioid crisis continues to grow in countries around the world, more police forces in the UK, Canada, Australia and elsewhere are looking to equip officers with overdose reversal medication naloxone to save lives; Vernon White, former Chief of Police for Ottawa Police Service, and Joe Carlebach, former Hammersmith and Fulham councillor, argue that with enforcement showing little signs of ending the opioid crisis in the near future, naloxone should become standard issue for officers.

OPINION: CANADA: As calls for ‘defund the police’ switch to ‘refund the police’ in priority areas, Dr N Zoe Hilton, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and Dr Sandy Jung, Professor of Psychology at MacEwan University, argue that police-researcher partnerships are needed now more than ever, and could be particularly beneficial in developing and implementing the assessment tools to tackle intimate partner violence and coercive control.

OPINION: Earlier this year British Columbia began Canada’s first drug ‘decriminalisation’ policy, removing criminal sanctions for adults in possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs; but research scientist Dr Kanna Hayashi, an Associate Professor at Simon Fraser University, warns that while police continue to seize drugs even when users aren’t charged with offences, toxic drug deaths will remain a major problem.

ANALYSIS: The Government of British Columbia has introduced new policing standards in relation to the response to and investigation of sexual assault, in a bid to ensure a “victim-centred, trauma-informed approach”, as well as highlighting the need for police policies to be “culturally-appropriate and legally-informed”, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

OPINION: A series of high-profile cases involving bullying, harassment and sexual abuse have seen the Royal Canadian Mounted Police the focus of strong criticism; following the most recent case, Adler University Associate Professor Jason Walker believes it is time to abandon the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution (ICHR) – the body set up to investigate such cases – in favour of more decisive action, both for the RCMP and law enforcement agencies around the world.

ANALYSIS: Confidential informers play a significant role in police investigations around the world, but there are also recognised risks of informers committing ‘treachery’ – either intentionally feeding officers false information, or revealing their identity to a third person; new research by Sgt David Younan and Crime Analyst Sarah Harmer – both of London Police Service, Ontario – examines the instances of treachery by Service informants over a two-decade period, and suggests evidence-based approaches that policing can implement to minimize the risks.

OPINION: With a combination of municipal, provincial and regional law enforcement, Canada’s policing environment is both complex and in need of national standards; in this first of two articles, Vernon White, former Chief of Police for Ottawa Police Service, and Joe Carlebach, former Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health at Hammersmith and Fulham Council, argue that establishing a college of policing for Canada could help to create those standards while also professionalising the policing role.

ANALYSIS: Various sectors of criminal justice systems around the world are increasing their use of artificial intelligence (AI), but AI has played a key part in offender assessment decisions in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and other countries for more than 20 years, with little or no transparency or independent inspection of the algorithms involved, as University of Surrey Professor Melissa Hamilton and Professor Pamela Ugwudike of the University of Southampton explain.

OPINION: The Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution (ICHR) was set up in 2021 to investigate workplace violence and related misconduct in the RCMP, following a landmark lawsuit that led to a payout of more than $125 million; but University Canada West Associate Professor Dr Jason Walker believes the ICHR is failing in that mission – and that action is needed urgently to rectify the shortcomings, both for the sake of the organisation and the communities it serves.

OPINION: In a follow-up to an earlier 2019 study highlighting disproportionate police stops of Black, Indigenous and Arab people in Montreal, a report published in June suggests a new non-discriminatory policy has had little impact; Concordia University Associate Professor Ted Rutland believes the city is abdicating its role of overseeing the police on behalf of the population.

ANALYSIS: Delays in the police disciplinary process can risk undermining the legitimacy of policing as an institution, and erode public trust; Matthew Wood, a police constable with Toronto Police Service and part-time professor at the Seneca College School of Public Safety, looks at the importance of timeliness in addressing misconduct – highlighted in specific Canadian cases – and what can be done to improve the process.

LONG READ: As policing globally faces significant challenges around effective responses to those in mental health crises, Western Australia Sgt Glen Blackwell, the force’s first Mental Health Co-Response Trainer, received a Churchill Fellowship award to establish diversionary practices for mentally and intellectually disabled persons engaging police; this long-read article, based on his final report to the Churchill Trust, explores international best practice, and makes recommendations for police in Australia that could also benefit other forces.

OPINION: Heroin supplies in the US are now commonly adulterated with animal tranquillizer xylazine, a drug which when injected can lead to widespread lesions that cause tissue death – hence the name ‘zombie drug’: with the first reported case of xylazine in a UK drug-user’s death now recorded, King’s College London Pharmaceutical Lecturer Dr Caroline Copeland believes heroin users must be made aware of the additional risks – especially as opioid overdose reversal agent naloxone is not effective against the sedative effects of xylazine.

FEATURE: With police tactical response units using the latest hi-tech equipment that often shares striking similarities with military kit, new Canadian research has highlighted the impact that such an appearance and approach can have on public trust in the police, as University of Waterloo PhD Candidate Tandeep Sidhu explains.

ANALYSIS: Continued exposure to horrific imagery and harrowing testimony is having a significant impact on the mental health of crime investigators across Europe; Dr Fazeelat Duran, a Postdoctoral researcher in occupational psychology at the University of Birmingham, outlines the findings of recent research that highlights the scale of the problem, and gives a voice to frontline officers who feel ignored by policymakers.

OPINION: In January this year, four years after the suicide of Vancouver Police Constable Nicole Chan following her devastating experiences of bullying and harassment at work, a coroner’s inquest delivered 12 recommendations highlighting severe systemic issues within the Department; University Canada West Associate Professor Jason Walker argues that this latest example of the toxic side of cop culture and the ‘blue wall’ of silence is more evidence of the need for a lawmakers’ response to preventable violence at work.

OPINION: Three Ontario Provincial Police officers involved in the fatal shooting of an 18-month-old baby and his father are shortly due to stand trial for manslaughter; Adjunct Professor Patrick G Watson, Postdoctoral Fellow Carmen Nave and PhD Candidate T Sidhu believe that aside from holding officers accountable for their actions, such trials are also positive mechanisms that allow for public scrutiny of the use-of-force training, policies and practices of police forces.

OPINION: The increasing demands on policing to respond to those in mental health crises are creating significant burdens on police resources, and a potentially inadequate service to the public; Vernon White, former Chief of Police for Ottawa Police Service and Senator in the Canadian Parliament, and Joe Carlebach, former Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health at Hammersmith and Fulham Council, believe the solution is to address the systemic problems in mental health care rather than more training for police officers.

ANALYSIS: New data published by Canada’s Tracking (In)Justice project suggest that the average number of police-involved deaths each year between 2011-2022 rose by two thirds, compared to the annual average figure for the previous decade; project members Andrew Crosby, Alexander McClelland and Tanya L. Sharpe believe that the increase, together with the racial disparity and jurisdictional variations within the figures, support calls for greater accountability, transparency and scrutiny of police conduct in Canada.

ANALYSIS: The Mass Casualty Commission into the April 2020 Nova Scotia shootings that left 22 people dead has made a range of recommendations around tighter gun control, particularly of the most powerful and potentially destructive weapons; Professor Blake Brown of St Mary’s University believes the non-partisan nature of the Commission will give its findings added weight – but if and how quickly they are implemented by the federal government remains to be seen.

OPINION: RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki will retire later this month, after almost five years leading the service during a period of successive crises including the first unionization of its officers and a class-action lawsuit over allegations of bullying and harassment; but Dr Eli Sopow argues that changing the person at the helm of the service will do little to address the structural and cultural challenges it faces.

OPINION: As a veteran of the lengthy stakeouts of heroin dealers, cultivation of informants, and the stitches, lost teeth and broken bones that come with the war on drugs, former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher believes it’s time for international agreement that the failed war should be over – and for co-operation and collaboration in putting together a more effective plan for peace.

INTERVIEW: The Canadian Police Knowledge Network has teamed up with human trafficking education and support charity Timea’s Cause to offer 100,000 officers across the country access to survivor-led training first rolled out by Peel Regional Police; Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons spoke to organisation founder and trafficking survivor Timea Nagy about her own experiences, why this training is different, and the impact it could have nationally and globally.

FEATURE: More than 2,000 officers from Peel Regional Police will receive specialised, survivor-led human trafficking training to help them identify and support those who might be being groomed or are already being exploited, in a training project that’s the first of its kind in Canada, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.