Improving anti-racism accountability systems in community safety

Publicly admit and acknowledge the long-lasting impact of colonialism on PADs

Recommendation 1: The Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General should lead the way in providing genuine, unequivocal, and public admission and acknowledgment that province-wide police forces, as institutions, have historically been characterized by colonial procedures that have led to discrimination and oppression towards People of African Descents and other minorities. Similar statements should also be expected from police chiefs across the province as a foundational act in restoring trust with the People of African Descent community.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in community safety

Improve cultural sensitivity programs and anti-Black racism training

Recommendation 2: The Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General should work with the RCMP and local police to reform cultural sensitivity programs and other training to improve their anti-Black racism components. It is critical that specific anti-black modules or courses be established in such training to prioritize inter-cultural communication and sensitivities, and to promote effective relationships and trust building with the People of African Descent communities. It is also critical that anti-black racism training be made mandatory, under legislative/regulatory authority, for police forces and their leadership.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in community safety

Enable data collection to measure and report progress in equity and diversity

Recommendation 3: The Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General should ensure that sufficient authority is provided under the “Race-based” data legislation for the collection, access and use of race-based data to assess the progress of diversity measures undertaken by the Province in terms of People of African Descent membership of police forces and their leadership; and to assess operational activities such as street checks, arrests and detentions. Methodologies and data points used in public reports and engagements such as that of the Vancouver Police Department on this matter could be used as models and referents in drafting regulations.

Deepening PAD’s representation in community safety

Implement policy and legislative safeguards for PADs

Recommendation 4: The Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General should ensure that the anti-racism legislation is intentional about promoting the wellbeing of Black officers and removing all anti-Black racism they face within the police services.

Deepening PAD’s representation in community safety

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 5: The Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General and the BC Public Service Agency should actively promote and support the recruitment of People of African Descent as police officers to have a force that better reflects the rich cultural diversity of BC. It is important that this recruitment be intentional, genuine, and underpinned by continuous efforts to understand and amend traditional barriers such as exclusionary application requirements. As it is understood that the Provincial government has limited levers in influencing local police recruitment, it’s also recommended that a program similar to the Aboriginal Youth Program be established that would provide funding for the recruitment of determined numbers of People of African Descent officers by local police.

Deepening PAD’s representation in community safety

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 6: The Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General should prioritize and support the appointment of People of African Descent to police boards and other oversight and complaint structures and committees to improve their impartiality, inclusiveness, and adequacy in reflecting BC’s diversity in terms of race, gender, age, and income levels.

Improving community safety and access to policing services for PADs

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 7: The Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General plans to deploy an anti-racism non-police hotline must include unambiguous mechanisms to achieve adequate diversity of responders from minority communities and People of African Descent. It is also critical that all responders be trained to apply culturally sensitive practices, when interacting with People of African Descent, that involve empathy and contextual understanding of their unique situations.

Improving community safety and access to policing services for PADs

Enable data collection to measure and report progress in equity and diversity

Recommendation 8: The Ministry of Public Safety should work with major police forces around the province to fund a study of underlying causes of apprehensions of People of African Descent towards joining the police services, and how to mitigate them.

Improving community safety and access to policing services for PADs

Support collaboration between PAD professionals

Recommendation 9: The Ministry of Public Safety should fund efforts by officers of African Descent to build solidarity amongst themselves and establish a People of African Descent community of practice for law enforcers. This is critical in leveraging People of African Descent’s agency in understanding and restoring trust and confidence in policing for the People of African Descent community at large. The Association of Black Law Enforcers provides a useful model for promoting justice and equity in policing.

Improving anti-racism accountablitity systems in the justice system

Deepen equity in service delivery by and to PADs

Recommendation 26: The Ministry of Attorney General should provide support to the judicial council and law society for conducting studies to understand, capture, and prioritize concerns and recommendations of judges and lawyers of African descent in terms of these bodies’ capacity in attracting People of African Descent to the profession, and of potential avenues in reforming legal practice and the justice system in BC.