Week 11: Race, Policing, and Mistrust

What is Good Policing? (peel principle #2)

Peel Principle #2 - “The ability of the police to perform their duties depends on the public approval of their actions”

• Because the public has legitimized police behaviors, this happens

Issues around distrust emerge when we don’t approve of certain police acts

What is Good Policing? (peel principle #7)

Peel Principle #7 - Police should maintain a relationship with the public, based on the fact that the police are the public, and the public are the Police

• Police reflect the values of the public

The public should have involvement in the CJS; to hold police accountable

Trust in Policing

ability to have belief and confidence that those in control of key decisions will pursue acceptable and appropriate outcomes

Transparency

the degree to which decisions are made in a manner that’s visible to those in and out of the organization

Trust vs Transparency

Both ideas are not synonymous, can have one high one low

• You can have low trust amongst police, but high transparency

Exists internally to the police (Trust of Leaders in Policing)

Also exists externally to the police (Trust of Leaders in the Public)

Ideology of Race

Race is a social construct

• People give meaning to it

• People attach themselves to this idea

Idea of race changes over time and space

• e.x. Italians being considered “white” after not being considered it for a long time

Racialization

Process by which we assign racial connotations to people

• Can lead to stigmatization and marginilization

Who is racialized

• EVERYONE

• e.x. who live in a trailer park vs ghetto

Intersectionality

Forms of marginilization that are understood on different intersecting grounds

• Can even impact the privileged

e.x. School to prison pipeline as a race, gender, or class problem

Consequences of the Ideology of Race

Racism - Belief that certain races are superior or inferior

Xenophobia - fear of the “other”

Islamophobia - form of discrimination against Muslims

Racial Profiling (Policing)

Actions undertaken for safety/security that relies on stereotypes about race, color, ethnicity, etcrely

• Rather than the grounds of reasonable suspicion

• Draws on the idea of race

e.x. When people are stopped by police because of racial characteristics rather than actions

Arbitrary

Depending on Individual discretion, founded in prejudice / bias / personal whim rather than fact

Charter 9 prevents arbitrary detention

Carding/Street Checks

Situation where an officer randomly asks an individual to provide I.D. when there isn’t objective suspciious activity

• Individual isn’t suspected of an offence, no reason to believe so

• Info is recorded and stored in a database

Criminal profiling

Usage of objective evidence of wrongful behavior to question people

• Doesn’t have anything to do with race

  • Encouraged by police

• Exists separately from racial profiling

R v. Ladouceur

Precedent that upholds the constitutionality of random driving stops

• Arbitrary enforcement of law

• Seen as a violation of Charter 9 rights

Creates a risk of racial profiling

Attorney General of Quebec v. Luamba (2025)

Challenged constitutionality of arbitrary discretional police stops

• Prevents random traffic stops

• Stops racial profiling

Effect of R v. Ladouceur - negative ourcomes for racialized people

Starlight Tours

Police actions that leave Indigenous people located to the outskirts of cities with no shelter

• e.x. Detaining an Indigenous person, ditching them in the middle of nowhere

• Tends to happen to Indigenous men at night in sub zero temperatures

Case of Neil Stonechild (Starlight Tours)

Neil Stonechild, 17, in 1990 was found frozen to death on the outskirts of Saskatoon

• Death was caused by police that abandoned him there

In October 2004, it was noted that there was clear evidence Stonechild was in police custody on the night of his death

Trust Deficit

Crisis of distrust

• When policing is embedded in society, many members don’tt rust them

  • Historical and current implications

  • Lack of transparency

Alberton’s Readings

Looks at Indigenous people vs. white impacts of having involuntary contact with authority

• e.x. a random stop

Contact with police is voluntary vs. involuntary

Results:

• Indigenous people reported more involuntary contact

  • Less confidence in police compared to whites

However, nature of the interactions between both races were the same

• Suggests it may not be about race?

Owusu-Bempah Readings

Black youth report:

• Overpolicing against the black community

• Underpolicing black concerns

Such disproportionality impacts diversity in policing, as black youths are steering away from it as a career

Ibrahim Readings

These issues aren’t inherently bad, as people have high confidence in policing

• 9 in 10 - Confidence in Police

• 4 in 10 - great deal of confidence

ONLY 2% SAID THEY HAVE NO CONFIDENCE IN THE POLICE!