Week 9 - Policing pt 2

Where do the powers of police come from?

Legislation

Biased Investigative Boards (e.x. SIU)

Police Powers in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Police are governed under:

• Information and Privacy Acts

• Criminal Code

• Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Principle of Accountability

“Actions of policing individuals or agencies are subject to review; individuals can use formal channels to lodge complaints against policing bodies”

(Griffiths, 2025)

Response to police self-investigation

• You need an external body to investigate

Structures of Police Governance (investigation)

Begins with police acts

• Framework for police service (e.x. procedures, how to file a complaint)

• Depends on level of policing (rcmp act or provincial/territorial acts)

Policing Standards

• Supplements for acts, sets out how police services are to be delivered

• e.x. roles, responsibilities

Police Boards and Commissions

• Bodies that receive these complaints

Police are the only branch of the CJS with independent oversight

Saskatchewan, PEI, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut….

DO NOT HAVE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIVE UNITS

MUST RELY ON ANOTHER POLICE SERVICE TO INVESTIGATE THEMSELVES

Problems with police investigative units

Independent investigative units almost always comprise of former police officers

• Police culture is tight-knit

  • Hard to blame other officers of their actions

95% of cases by the SIU cleared any police wrongdoing

Typifications

Constructs based on an officer’s experience that describes what typical about people or places

• e.x. a Cop being keen on watching a group of hooded teens standing at a corner store late at night

• How officers categorize people, places, or situations based on prior experiences

  • Usage of heuristics

Recipes for Actions

Standardized Actions taken by officers in certain stuations

• e.x. an officer questioning a typified “suspicious youth group” applies a recipe for action (stop, questioning, record their names)

Challenges in Policing

Police Use of Force

Mental Health Calls

Use of Technology

Types of Force

1. Physical

2. Chemical

3. Electronic

4. Impact

5. Firearm

PCEIF - range of severity from higher to lower

Recommendation of physical force over other methods of compelling compliance (NO TALK)

In Canada, all law enforcement agencies employ this continuum of

• Apply minimal force to the use of force

• No set definition of police use of force in the legislation

Sammy Yatim Example

18 year old in Toronto who was shot for wielding a small knife

• Sparked debate about police force, mental health, and accountability

Appeared distressed, but not physically threatening

Officer James Fortillo shot him 3 times, and shot him another 3 times when he was on the ground

• Tased him right after

Which Criminal Code Sections outline use of force

s.25 - outlines authority of police officers to use force on reasonable grounds

s.26 - outlines excessive use of force, which is not allowed

National use of Force Model

Training model used to prepare officers during times where they need to use force

• Trained not to use force unless needed

Potential for issues, such as when the onus pressures police officers to use force

Police use of Force in Calgary outlines…..

Police use of force isn’t as prevalent of an issue as we think

• # of firearm incidents vs. # of force incidents vs. # of persons charged

Majority of police interactions are resolved without force

Use of Force in Canada

Cases that involve use of force involve patterns of:

• Mental health, poverty, social class

• Intersectional grounds apply

Deadly use of force has not declined in the past 20 years

Use of force rates increase as we move from East to West

• Implies heavier usage of RCMP contracts in rural communities

Conductive Energy Weapons (tasers) has increased in Canada

• 2010-19 taser deployments increased by 140%

• 31% increase in officers pointing these weapons

Policing & Mental Health (THE PODCAST)

Looked at issues of mental health from the perspective of a human rights activist

• Podcast argues that police don’t resolve 80% of criminal happenings for mental health

  • Often rely on use of force

Researchers argue a 1-30% increase for calls to mental health in certain jurisdictions

People who experience mental health crises work through substance issues

• 3x more likely to be arrested

• Intersecting issues such as mental health, poverty, racism, etc

Mental health calls related to substance abuse are only referred to as “substance abuse calls”

We don’t have a good mental health system, but we have an established police system unequipped to deal with these issues

Mental Health Act, RSO 1990 (Ontario)

When an officer has reasonable grounds to believe someone:

• Is threatening to hurt themselves

• Behaving violently towards another person

• Shows a lack of care for themselves

They may take the person in custody for examination by a physician

Usage of Technology

Videos of police interactions

• Includes

  • Bodycams

  • Citizen Journalism

Citizen Journalism (Usage of Technology Issue)

Bystander videos of police-citizen interactions

• Police are pushed back on their use of force

Cops don’t have control over citizen journalism

“Produces a new visibility”

• Public participates in the creation of the encounter

• Before, they visibility was limited to a police perspective

Bodycams

Worn by cops as a response to public outcry to use these technologies

• Adds a record of accountability

• Vancouver in 2008 was the first to use them

Gives both sides of the story

Calgary recommends that Canadian policies force police not to hide these cameras

Civilizing effects (bodycams)

Idea that police wearing a bodycam means people are more likely to be compliant with police

• Police are also less likely to commit wrongdoing

Decreased # of complaints made since bodycams were introduced

• Hawthorne effect?

R. V Duarte (SCC 1990) - Bodycams & Tech

Precedent set that police can’t secretly record the public unless they have authorization

Apple Tree Analogy

Apple - individual cop

Tree - police service

Orchard - the system of policing as a whole

Does the issue stem from bad values, or the system itself?