Canada

ANALYSIS: A key element of many of the 2020 policing protests was the call to defund police and reinvest more heavily in community spending and solutions, but two years on, policing budgets have continued to increase across Canada; Concordia University Associate Professor Ted Rutland looks at how and why spending has increased, and what progress has been made on investing in non-police responses.

OPINION: As threats against Canadian politicians appear to be at an all-time high, rising workforce attrition rates within the RCMP are in danger of leaving the force with too few resources to protect ministers, diplomats and government officials; Security Risk Management doctorate student Sean Spence believes the shortage is a risk to Canada’s national security, but turning to private contractors could offer a solution.

OPINION: Changes introduced under Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act will see the province’s Office of the Independent Police Review Director investigating complaints only against high-ranking officers and those “in the public interest”, with others referred back to the relevant forces; York University PhD Candidate Monika Lemke believes the increased lack of transparency and shrinking role of independent oversight will erode public trust in the system.

OPINION: Despite increased awareness of and action to tackle domestic violence, support and intervention services for male victims are still largely lacking; Criminology professor Dr Alexandra Lysova believes that, with the most common pattern of abuse, bidirectional violence, helping male victims could save lives and help to break the intergenerational cycle of violence.

END OF YEAR REVIEW: As 2022 draws to a close, Policing Insight Editor Keith Potter looks back over some of the key law enforcement themes covered over the past 12 months, the challenges met and opportunities offered, and our continuing commitment to provide a platform for sharing expertise, understanding and best practice throughout 2023.

OPINION: New research by Dr Kate Puddister, an associate professor at the University of Guelph, and Queen’s University doctoral candidate Danielle McNabb, suggest that not only is sexual violence by police officers in Canada more common than expected, but that allegations of sexual assault against officers are less likely to be fully investigated, or lead to charges or convictions, than other such assaults reported to police.

ANALYSIS: A 2019 criminal victimisation survey in Canada found that a quarter of victims of violence failed to report incidents to the police for fear of not being taken seriously and even being re-traumatised by the legal process. Jeffrey Bradley, PhD Candidate, Carleton University, examines what needs to change to ensure victims have the confidence to come forward.

OPINION: Non-profit organisation Innocence Canada has highlighted nine main causes of wrongful convictions, with eyewitness misidentification contributing to around 70% of such miscarriages of justice later overturned by DNA testing; Carleton University Professor Joanna Pozzulo and Emily Pica, Associate Professor at Austin Peay State University, explore the impact of such cases, and call for policy reform to address the risks of eyewitness misidentification.

ANALYSIS: With the ever-increasing volume of online child sexual abuse material, identifying and removing these harmful and often horrific images will require the use of new digital tools; at the recent 24-hour Conference on Global Organized Crime, Jacques Marcoux, Director of Research and Analytics for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, outlined how Project Arachnid is delivering on this task, as Policing Insight’s James Sweetland reports.

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OPINION: A fatal crash involving a runaway freight train in British Columbia three years ago has raised awareness among the Canadian public of the unique investigative and jurisdictional powers bestowed on company-operated railway police; Professor Bruce Campbell of Canada’s York University believes it’s time this “antiquated relic” of private-sector policing was replaced with an independent public railway police regime similar to the British model.

FEATURE: Edmonton Police Service are leading on a partnership approach to providing a wide range of support services for individuals coming into regular contact with frontline officers, a programme which has seen significant reductions in police contact and criminal behaviour post-intervention, as Policing Insight Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons reports.

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QUEEN ELIZABETH II: As the UK Royal Family entered a period of mourning following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, Policing Insight looks at some of the tributes and messages of condolence that have been sent from the policing family in the UK and overseas.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has sadly died today. Our publisher Bernard Rix expresses condolences on behalf of the the team at Policing Insight and PolicingTV.

INTERVIEW: A report by the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) has revealed significant growth in gun homicides and a proliferation of firearms, part-funded by Covid support fraud; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to MCCA Executive Director Laura Cooper about the findings of the report, the threats posed by ghost guns and irresponsible owners, and why police arresting their way out of the crisis is unsustainable.

INTERVIEW: A recent survey highlighted issues around harassment and a “toxic” working environment for some members of the Toronto Police Service, as well as opportunities to address those issues and rebuild trust within the organisation; Toronto Police Association President Jon Reid spoke to Policing Insight Contributing Editor Sarah Gibbons about the findings of the survey, the challenges for both uniform and civilian staff, and the importance of creating a safe and comfortable workplace.

INTERVIEW: It’s rare – if not unique – that a chief officer gets to build a sizeable new police department from scratch, setting out their vision, choosing their team, and implementing the latest processes and technologies; Policing Insight’s Christine Townsend spoke to Chief Norm Lipinski of Canada’s new Surrey Police Service about the combination of community focus and business acumen that he believes can build ‘a top-tier organization’.

OPINION: While Canada has experienced an increase in gun violence in recent years, Professor Yanick Charette of the Université Laval believes that existing political and law enforcement approaches to tackle the problem focus mainly on increasing police resources, and should be replaced by more effective deterrent programs, built on interventions that involve both the police and the community.

OPINION: As the London Police Services Board in Ontario prepares to call on Canada’s federal government to add femicide to the criminal code – and with other police boards indicating their support for the move – Professor Myrna Dawson of the University of Guelph says introducing femicide-specific legislation would be a crucial first step in reducing the crisis of violence against women and girls.

OPINION: The death of a female passenger on a Toronto bus who died from severe burns after being set on fire by her killer is the latest example of violence and hate experienced by women and girls in Canada; Professor Myrna Dawson of the University of Guelph believes that, with ‘sex’ already an identifiable group within the Canadian Criminal Code, it’s time for such attacks to be treated as hate crimes.

OPINION: The decriminalization of hard drugs such as cocaine and MDMA in Canada’s British Columbia province follows many years of campaigners calling for a public health approach; Professor Andrew Hathaway of the University of Guelph looks at the background to the decision, and considers what lessons can be learned from similar processes undertaken in other countries.

OPINION: New race-based data released by Toronto Police Service has highlighted that nearly a third of all Indigenous people arrested were strip-searched, while one in every three people who were strip-searched were Black; Monika Lemke, a PhD candidate at Canada’s York University, argues that as well as the disproportionality, strip searches are ineffective and unnecessary, and should be stopped.

ANALYSIS: Following Canada’s legalisation of cannabis, some cities are now looking to decriminalise personal possession of all illegal drugs, as a public health-driven response to the country’s opioid overdose crisis; Policing Insight’s Keith Potter looks at the background to the proposals, the qualified support from police chiefs such as Toronto’s James Ramer, and how the drug enforcement landscape is shifting.