Newfoundland and Labrador investigate racial discrimination among police
A special oversight body will examine whether police officers are biased against people of other races.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, a special police oversight body collects data related to the race of suspected people. On the basis of these, an expert panel will be able to conclude whether there is racial bias among the police.
Some Canadians believe that police officers are biased against Native people in Canada and people of African descent. For example, their cars are stopped by the police more often than those of Caucasians. Canadian society is very tolerant and not prone to prejudice, but there are some stereotypes. For example, there is an opinion that black people are more prone to crime and various adventures. Because of this, police officers are wary of them, expecting them to pull some kind of prank. This frustrates and sometimes offends black people themselves. Recently, the Canadian media discussed the story of a young woman who had been arrested by police for allegedly breaking into her own car. The law-abiding girl was opening her car when passing police officers thought she was trying to pick the lock. The victim suspects that the law enforcement officers thought that a black woman could not have her own expensive car.
Criminologists and residents of the province are positive about the study. They are confident that it will help identify and eliminate errors in the work of the police and other similar agencies.
Collecting such information is difficult: the oversight body will have to work hard. Not only do all cases of detention of non-Europeans have to be studied and determined whether they were justified. It is also necessary to compare them with cases of detention of Europeans and the behavior of the police in those cases. Sometimes police claims seem to be justified and bias only emerges by comparison.
The province is interested in research not only for reasons of tolerance. Sometimes, because of their own prejudices and stereotypes, police officers miss the real culprit by becoming overly interested in an innocent African or Inuit. Precious time is lost as law enforcement officers follow a false trail. Unbiased attitude of police officers to people of all races will help to solve crimes faster.
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