Article contents
Ethnicization of the Police in Canada*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 July 2014
Abstract
In this article, the authors carry out a documentary analysis of the stakes and debates surrounding the policies and practices of the recruitment of ethnicized and racialized groups within the Canadian police services. The analysis of the justifications set forth by the proponents of affirmative action in the police services as well as the identification of the questions which have prompted the debates, criticisms and hesitations regarding this policy bring the authors to conclude that the integration of minorized groups in the police services is less concerned with the redressing of inequities than with the development of a new process of racialization.
Résumé
À partir d'une recension documentaire, les auteures analysent les enjeux et les débats entourant les politiques et les pratiques de recrutement de groupes ethnicisés et racisés dans les services de police au Canada. Les justifications ainsi que les questions soulevées et débattues autour des politiques d'action positive dans les forces de l'ordre amènent les auteures à soutenir que l'intégration des groupes minorisés dans les services de police relève davantage d'un processus de racialisation que d'une politique de redressement des iniquités.
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 1999
References
1. Reiner, R., (1994) “Policing and the Police” in Maguire, Mike, Morgan, Rod & Reiner, Robert, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994) 705.Google Scholar
2. Jaccoud, M., “Le Droit, l'exclusion et les authochtones” (1996) 11:2R.C.D.S. 217Google Scholar; Jaccoud, M., “Processus pénal et identitaire: Le Cas des Inuit au Nouveau-Québec” (1992) 14:2Sociologie et sociétés 25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Jaccoud, M., Justice blanche au Nunavik (Montreal: Méridien, 1995).Google Scholar
4. Starting in the 1970s, European immigration tended to decrease and give way to immigration from Third World countries.
5. Some interpret multiculturalism as an element of reconstruction of the symbolic system and redistribution of status among the ethnocultural and linguistic groups. See R. Breton, quoted in Paquet, G., “Multiculturalism as National Policy”, 5th International Conference on Cultural Economics, Studio of the National Arts Center, Ottawa (1988) [unpublished].Google Scholar Others see it as a regulation of the collective goals and interests of minority groups. See Daiva Stasiulis, quoted in Paquet, ibid.
6. See Fitzpatrick, P., The Mythology of Modern Law (London: Routledge, 1992)CrossRefGoogle Scholar for his analysis of modern law as intrinsically tied to the idea of nation.
7. Leman, M., “Le Multiculturalisme canadien” Bulletin d'actualité (Ottawa: Division des affaires publiques and sociales, 1994).Google Scholar
8. Haveman, P., “The Indigenization of Social Control in Canada” in Morse, B. W. & Noodman, G. R., eds., Indigenous Law and the State (Dordrerit: Foris, 1988) 71 at 83.Google Scholar
9. The over-representation of natives in the correctional services has increased since the 1980s, at the time that the State was developing its indigenization policy.
10. Eriksen, T. H., Ethnicity and Nationalism: Anthropological Perspectives (London: Pluto, 1993) at 31.Google Scholar
11. Miles, R., Racism. (London: Routledge, 1989) at 11.Google Scholar
12. It should be added that racialization practices consist not only of transforming difference, but also simplifying it. See Dominguez, V., “A Taste for ‘the Other’: Intellectual Complicity in Racializing Practices” (1994) 35:4Current Anthropology 333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13. See note 5 for a definition of these terms.
14. The identified documents (66) can be divided into two sub-groups which are more or less equal in terms of numbers: those dealing directly with the question of recruitment of racialized and ethnicized groups into police departments and those dealing indirectly with this question by including it in a more general examination of relations between the police and ethnic minorities. This finding is interesting in itself because it shows that, for at least half of the document production surveyed, the question of recruitment is closely associated with the broader question of relations between ethnicized minorities and the police, in fact becoming one of its components. The authors of the documents vary in terms of status: they include police forces, commissions of inquiry (federal, provincial or municipal) and social scientists. In spite of this diversity of status, the discourse is directed towards two main themes: improvement of relations between the police and the different minority communities and the practices of recruiting these communities into the police.
15. In the rest of this presentation, we will use the terms “minority,” “racialized” and “ethnicized” to mean that persons from groups called ethnocultural and minorities called visible are subject to an attribution and designation by the majority group and that this categorization, produced in a relationship of power, has the effect of constituting groups which become carriers of differences. See Barth, F., ed., Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organisation of Cultural Difference (Boston: Little, Brown, 1969)Google Scholar; Juteau-Lee, D., D. “La Production de l'ethnicité ou la part réelle de l'idéal” (1983) 15:2Sociologie et Sociétés 39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Task Force Report on Policing in Ontario, The Police are the Public and the Public are the Police by Hale, E. B. (Toronto: Department of the Solicitor General, 1974).Google Scholar
17. Ibid., Recommendation 4.2 at 33.
18. The number of police officers identified as members of visible minorities in the police forces in Canada ranges from 0 and 3%. See Jain, H. C., “Recruitment and Selection of Visible Minorities by Selected Canadian Police Forces” (1986) 3:4Currents 13Google Scholar. In 1997, in the Montreal Urban Community Police Department (SPCUM), two percent of officers were members of visible minorities, 7.4% were members of ethnocultural groups and 0.22% were Natives. In the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), in 1988, there were no officers from “minority communities.” See Comité d'enquête sur les relations entre les corps policiers et les minorités visibles et ethniques by Bellemare, P. (Québec: Publications du Québec, 1988)Google Scholar [hereinafter Bellemare Report]. In 1991, the SQ had not yet implemented an affirmative action program. See Potvin, P., “Agent de police et agent de recrutement” (March-April 1991) Sûreté 2.Google Scholar
19. Minority police officers were given 1.5% of all promotions between 1984 and 1989. In Toronto, they obtained 2.8% of promotions, while elsewhere in Ontario, they obtained only 1.1% of promotions. The real promotional ceiling is the staff sergeant rank. See Ontario, Task Force on Race Relations and Policing, The Report of the Race Relations and Policing Task Force by Lewis, C. E. (Toronto: Department of the Solicitor General, 1989)Google Scholar [hereinafter Lewis Report]; Jaywardene, C. H. S. & Talbot, C. K., Police Recruitment of Ethnic Minorities (Ottawa: Canadian Police College, 1990).Google Scholar A survey by Gascon of 24 Canadian police forces showed that visible minorities represent 3.3% of constables, 0.7% of corporals, 0.9% of sergeants, 0.6% of staff sergeants and 0.5% of officers. Canadian Center for Police Race Relations, Police Services Survey on Employment of Designated Groups through Employment Equity by Gascon, C. (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Police Race Relations, 1995) [hereinafter Gascon].Google Scholar
20. However, during the inquiry conducted by Carl Lewis on race relations and police in Ontario, some representatives of cultural communities refused to participate on the grounds that numerous inquiries had been conducted without any real change occurring. See Lewis Report, ibid.
21. Task Force on Human Relations, Now is Not Too Late, vols. 1, 2 by Pitman, W. (Toronto: Council of Metropolitan Toronto, 1977).Google Scholar
22. Canadian Centre for Police Race Relations, Report to the Civic Authorities of Metropolitan Toronto and its Citizens by Carter, G. E. (1979) [unpublished].Google Scholar
23. Task Force on the Racial and Ethnic Implications of Police Hiring, Training, Promotion and Career Development, Policing in Ontario for the Eighties: Perceptions and Reflections by Gerstein, R. (Toronto: Solicitor General of Ontario, 1980)Google Scholar [hereinafter Policing in Ontario for the Eighties].
24. Canada, Special Committee on the Participation of Visible Minorities in Canadian Society, L'Égalité ça presse! Minutes and evidence, no. 4 (Ottawa: House of Commons, 1984)Google Scholar (chair: Bob Daudlin) [hereinafter Daudlin Committee].
25. Canada, Commission of Inquiry on Equality in Employment, Report of the Commission on Equality in Employment (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1984)Google Scholar (chair: Rosalie Abella) [hereinafter Abella Report].
26. Daudlin Committee, supra note 24.
27. Working Group on Policing in Multicultural, Multiracial Urban Communities, Proposed Guidelines for Recruitment and Selection of Visible Minority Police Officers in Canada. (Greater Toronto Region) (Toronto: 1986).Google Scholar
28. Lewis Report, supra note 19.
29. Bellemare Report, supra note 18.
30. In Québec, affirmative action programs in the Montreal Urban Community Police Department began in 1991.
31. Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (U.K.), 1982, C. 11.
32. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, ibid.
33. Canadian Bill of Rights, S.C. 1960, C. 44, reprinted in R.S.C. 1985, App. III.
34. In the United States, where the Federal Equal Employment Act was adopted in 1972, the integration of minorities into the police began much earlier than in Canada. See Sullivan, P. S., ed., Minority Officers: Current Issues (Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland, 1989).Google Scholar The first black police officer was hired in the 19th century and by the 1940s, there were already a certain number of black police officers. See Alexander, J., Blue Coats: Black Skin: The Black Experience in the New York City Police Department since 1891 (Hicksville, NY: Exposition, 1978)Google Scholar; Kuykendall, J. L. & Burns, D. E., “The Black Police Officer: A Historical Perspective” (1980) 1:4Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Moreover, police departments in the United States appear to be reaching a percentage of minority police officers proportional to their representation in the population. See Carter, D. L. & Sapp, A. D., Police Education and Minority Recruitment: The Impact of a College Requirement (Washington, D.C.: Police Executive Research Forum/Ford Foundation, 1991).Google Scholar In addition, unlike in Canada, studies on the experience of minority police officers have been conducted there since the 1960s. See Alex, N., Black in Blue: A Study of Negro Policemen (New York: Century Crofts, 1969)Google Scholar; Alexander, ibid. This information would lead us to believe that the United States represents the avant-garde in terms of integration of minority police officers. However, the integration of minorities does not imply equality in employment. This is precisely what the studies on the experience of these police officers show. For example, at least up to the late 1960s, in certain cities, black police officers were assigned only to black neighbourhoods; they were required to call white police officers when arresting a white person; they “were not allowed access to police headquarters and, at times, were not permitted to attend training programs.” See Kuykendall & Burns, ibid. at 8.
35. Canadian Multiculturalism Act, 1988.
36. Bellemare Report, supra note 18; Blais, P., Address “Policing for a Pluralistic Society: Building a Network” (RCMP Conference, Ottawa, 28–31 March 1989) [unpublished].Google Scholar
37. Touche Ross & Partners, A Review of the Recruitment and Selection Systems of the Metropolitan Toronto Police (report presented to the Metropolitan Toronto Police, 1984) [unpublished]Google Scholar; Blais, ibid.
38. Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (C.A.C.P.), Police Race Relations: Training Within a Diverse Society (Ottawa: C.A.C.P., 1993).Google Scholar
39. Suriya, S. K., The Representation of Visible Minorities in Canadian Police: Employment Equity Beyond Rhetoric (Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 1992)Google Scholar; Gascon **, supra note 19.
40. Bellemare Report, supra note 18 at 149.
41. Forcese, D., “Canada 2000: Race Relations and Public Policy” in Dwivedi, O. P. et al. , eds., Conference on Canada's Race Relations Options. (Ottawa: Canadian College of Police, 1989).Google Scholar
42. Conseil des communautés culturelles et de l'immigration du Québec (C.C.C.I.Q.), Mémoire sur les relations entre la police et les minorités ethniques et visibles présenté au Comité d'enquête sur les relations entre les corps de policiers et les minorités ethniques et visibles (Chair: P. Bellemare) [unpublished]Google Scholar [hereinafter Bellemare Commission].
43. Niemi, F., Address “Policing for a Pluralistic Society: Building a Network” (RCMP Conference, Ottawa, 28–31 March 1989) [unpublished].Google Scholar
44. Jaywardene & Talbot, supra note 19 at 10.
45. Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, supra note 38; Katsuya, L. & Goup, D., The Royal Canadian Mounted Police: Organizational Culture and Issues: Diversity in Ethnic Representation: Public Image (Ottawa: Canadian College of Police, 1994).Google Scholar
46. Blais, supra note 36.
47. Fieras, A.et al., Bridging the Gap: Towards a Multicultural Policing in Canada (1989) 13:3Canadian Police College Journal 153Google Scholar; Lewis Report, supra note 19.
48. Lewis, ibid. at 68.
49. Gascon, supra note 19.
50. Bellemare Report, supra note 18; Lewis, supra note 19; Jaywardene & Talbot, supra note 19; Katsuya & Goup, supra note 45.
54. Blais, supra note 36.
55. Bellemare Report, supra note 18; C.C.I.Q., supra note 42; Jaywardene & Talbot, supra note 19; Normandeau, supra note 52.
56. Winterton, D. et al. , Symposium in Multicultural /Multiracial Urban Communities (Ottawa: Multiculturalism Directorate, Secretary of State, 1985)Google Scholar; Alcindor, M., Address “Policing for a Pluralistic Society: Building a Network” (RCMP Conference, Ottawa, 28–31 March 1989) [unpublished].Google Scholar
57. C.C.I.Q., supra note 42.
58. Touche, Ross & Partners, supra note 37; Bellemare, supra note 18; C.C.C.I.Q., ibid.; Jaywardene & Talbot, supra note 19; Brodeur, J.-P., Access to Justice and Equality of Treatment (Montréal: Centre international de criminologie comparée, 1991)Google Scholar; Suriya, supra note 18.
59. Niemi, supra note 43; Lewis, supra note 19; C.A.C.P., supra note 38. Canadian legislation obliges corporations benefiting from contracts valued at $200,000 or more and having at least 100 employees to implement affirmative action programs in employment. These programs are also mandatory in the federal and Quebec public service. See McAll, C., “Discrimination et action positive: de l'irrationalité culturelle à la rationalité collective” in Simon-Barouh, J. & Simon, P. J., eds., L'Étranger dans la ville (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1990) 266.Google Scholar
60. C.A.C.P., ibid.
61. Graham, C.D., L'Action positive dans les services de police: Une volonté politique ou morale? (Ottawa: Department of the Solicitor General of Canada, 1990).Google Scholar
62. Fédération des policiers du Québec (F.P.Q.), Mémoire sur les relations entre la police et les minorités ethniques et visibles presented to the Bellemare Commission, supra note 42; Graham, ibid.
63. Fédération des policiers du Québec, ibid.
64. Dunham, R. G. & Alpert, G. P., Critical Issues in Policing: Contempary Readings (Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland, 1989)Google Scholar quoted in Graham, supra note 61 at 10.
65. We have seen that among the arguments used to support the active recruitment of persons from ethnicized and racialized groups is the idea that police performance is enhanced by the educational background of the immigrant population, which some studies have shown to be superior to non-immigrants.
66. Policing in Ontario for the Eighties, supra note 23; Winterton et al., supra note 56; Lewis, supra note 19.
67. Lewis, ibid. at 67.
68. Suriya, note 39.
69. Christidis, A., Royal Canadian Mounted Police: Strategies in the Recruitment of Visible Minorities (Ottawa: RCMP, 1992).Google Scholar
70. Alexander, supra note 34; Communauté hellénique de Montréal, Mémoire sur les relations entre la police et les minorités ethniques et visibles par H. Tsimberis & A. Mitsopoulos, presented to the Bellemare Commission, supra note 42; Katsuya, supra note 45.
71. Centre de recherche-action sur les relations raciales, Mémoire sur les relations entre la police et les minorités ethniques et visible presented to the Bellemare Commission, supra note 42; SOS Racisme, Mémoire sur les relations entre la police et les minorités ethniques et visible, presented to the Bellemare Commission, ibid.
72. Andrews, A. G., Review of Race Relations Practices of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force (Toronto: Metropolitan Toronto Police Services Board, 1992).Google Scholar
73. F.P.Q., supra note 62 at 28.
74. Daudlin Committee, supra note 24; Winterton et al., note 56; Jain, H. C., “Recruitment of Racial Minorities in Canadian Police Forces” (1987) 42:4Industrial Relations 790CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Congress of Black Women of Canada, Montreal Chapter, Mémoire sur les relations entre la police et les minorités ethniques et visibles presented to the Bellemare Commission, supra note 42; Communauté Sikh de Montréal, sur les relations entre la police et les minorités ethniques et visibles; Lewis, supra note 19.
75. Forcese, supra note 41 at 262.
76. Suriya, supra note 39.
77. National Council of Jamaicans & Supportive Organizations in Canada, Mémoire sur les relations entre la police et les minorités ethniques et visibles by Alexander, N. E.Google Scholar, presented to the Bellemare Commission, supra note 42 [emphasis in original].
78. National Association of Canadians of Origins in India, Montreal Chapter, Mémoire sur les relations entre la police et les minorités ethniques et visibles by S. V. Rao, presented to the Bellemare Commission, supra note 42.
79. Normandeau, supra note 52; Katsuya, supra note 45.
80. Forcese, supra note 41.
81. Graham, supra note 61 at 4.
82. Equal Opportunity Consultants, A Strategy to Enhance the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force's Profile with Racial Minorities (Toronto: Equal Opportunity Consultants, 1992).Google Scholar
83. Katsuya, supra note 45.
84. Jaywardene & Talbot, supra note 19 at 18.
85. Brodeur, supra note 58 at 70.
- 3
- Cited by