More than a brush with the law

The strained relations between Canada's first nations and the police

JOHNNIE MANSON THE NAVIGATOR (MALASPINA UNIVERSITY-COLLEGE)

NANAIMO, B.C. (CUP) — One day, while my girlfriend and I were visiting my grandparents in Esowista, a First Nations reservation located 20 kilometres south of Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island in B.C., a cop car pulled up. My girlfriend later told me quite a shocking story. She told me that my sweet and innocent grandmother had made some rather derogatory comments about the police. My grandmother was heard to remark, “Those goddamn pigs have no right to be here.”

During my childhood years I remember my stepfather beating my mother to a pulp, and her inability to call the police. I remember pleading with her to have my step-dad hauled off to jail. She didn’t trust the police. Even though my stepfather beat her, she wondered what they would do to him in jail. Both situations had me posing questions and straining for answers.

How could an old woman and a battered wife, two of the most vulnerable demographics in our society, be so mistrusting of police? More specifically, are their responses indicative of the majority of First Nations people’s attitudes and perceptions regarding police officers? If so, what are the problems with

Youth interviewed by the Ipperwash Inquiry described high levels of distrust for “men with guns.”

the relationship between police and aboriginals, and how do we come up with a solution?

Canadians enjoy a reputation of being one of the most socially progressive populations on the planet. Yet groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both stated that aboriginal-police relations should be an area of grave concern. Indeed, Amnesty International was one of the leading advocates for an inquiry into the shooting death of aboriginal protester Dudley George.

George was killed by Sgt. Kenneth Deane of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) while occupying contested land in Ipperwash Provincial Park. During the standoff, several OPP officers were heard making racist remarks towards the protesters. Deane, now convicted of criminal negligence causing death, was heard uttering racist remarks directly to George shortly before his death. The inquiry into the 1995 death of is finally wrapping up this fall.

In 1990, Neil Stonechild, a Cree teenager from Saskatoon, was found dead on the outskirts of town, many kilometres from his home. He had died of hypothermia. On Jan. 8, 2000, Darrell Night, a First Nations male, stated that Saskatoon police officers had picked him up, drove him to the outskirts of town, and released him into the bitter cold to find his own way home. In response to these allegations, Chief Dave Scott ordered an internal investigation. Veteran police officers Dave Hatchen and Ken Munson admitted that they dropped Night off on the outskirts of town. Consequently both Hatchen and Munson were convicted of unlawful confinement and sentenced to eight months in jail.

As a result of this conviction, many First Nations people began to question the death of Neil Stonechild. An inquiry into his death was ordered in 2003 and was completed in the fall of 2004. The inquiry concluded that Stonechild was in police custody during the night of his death — contrary to the original claims of the arresting officers — and that police investigations into Stonechild’s death were poorly conducted.

The inquiry’s commissioner, Justice D.H. Wright, concluded there was a definite strain in the relationship between aboriginals and the police, and elements such as racism and cultural misunderstanding needed to be addressed. Despite these grim examples, many have noted that the relationship between natives and non-natives has been improving over time. However, there are still lingering strains that are as much to do with cultural misconception as with cultural isolation.

Wright described a situation in Saskatchewan where white and native communities do not know each other, and are quite content to continue not knowing each other. Indeed, a report written by Larry Chartrand and Celeste McKay, entitled “A Review of Research on Criminal Victimization and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples: 1990 to 2001” confirmed that cultural misconception and isolation induces strong anti-police responses among aboriginals, even among victims of crime.

Many aboriginals interviewed in the Ipperwash and Neil Stonechild inquiries stated that they would rather not call the police when in need of assistance and protection. Youth interviewed by the Ipperwash Inquiry described high levels of distrust for “men with guns.” Indeed, many native people do not realize that the job of the police force is to serve and protect. Erica Stonechild, Neil Stonechild’s sister, was asked why she did not go to the police in times of need. She responded, “There was no trust established there at all, period.”

Tellingly, Justice of the Peace Donna Phillips, an Oneida native from Ontario, told the Ipperwash Inquiry that she encountered opposition from her own people due to her decision to enter the Canadian legal system. Members of her community stated that the Canadian system was not “their” system. Phillips advocated a legal system that understands and strongly considers aboriginal perceptions and opinions on law. Courses in cultural understanding would also improve the situation.

Indeed, police officers and legal systems that fully understood the complex aboriginal concepts of law and justice would be better able to protect native victims of crime. As well, natives who are aware that police officers are not just “guys with guns” are more likely to utilize the police system. Consequently, native people would not be forced to live in abusive situations.

The Canadian Department of Justice has stated that there is a strong correlation between abusive relationships, alcoholism and poverty.

Obviously reporting an abusive husband to the police will not end poverty, but it could lessen the likelihood of alcoholism, one of the main contributors to poverty.

Police officers and legal systems that fully understood the complex aboriginal concepts of law and justice would be better able to protect Native victims of crime.”

I have witnessed this correlation firsthand in my own life. My mother, a native woman, drank to escape her abusive relationship. Obviously the situation was intensely complex, but still, had she not had misconceptions about the police’s role in our society, maybe she wouldn’t have suffered.

Proactive solutions are the key to developing dialogue. Reactive measures are hodgepodge solutions to problems that should have been addressed beforehand. For example, had OPP officers attended cultural sensitivity training, they might have realized that the unarmed protesters were merely venting frustration over treaty violations. Dudley George would probably still be alive and taxpayers would not have to foot the bill for million-dollar consolation measures, such as the Ipperwash Inquiry. So there are definite benefits of open dialogue and understanding between the two groups.

William J. Closs, chief of the Kingston Police department, and Paul McKenna, president of the consulting firm Public Safety Innovation, have also advocated proactive measures as a means of strengthening relations between minorities — aboriginals included — and the police force.

Closs and McKenna have suggested that police officers collect data on their interactions with minorities. They declared that data collection on policeaboriginal interactions would address situations where police officers allow their personal moral values to guide their conduct. According to Closs and McKenna, data collection may prevent racial conflagrations from occurring, thus increasing public safety.

Looking back at how my grandmother and my mother perceived the police, I realized that they did not hate the police, per se. The two of them were simply confused as to what the role of the police actually is. I believe that clarifying that position through education would go a long way toward building trust between police and aboriginal people. I believe that it will make our communities safer. All Canadians have the right to be protected from harm, even harm caused by the police.