RCMP Gazette Human Rights and Policing - Alberta Hate Crimes ...

huMAN RiGhTShuMANAND POliCiNGRiGhTS AND POliCiNGDo you discriminate?Training, community involvement great tools for preventing biasby Tom ChapmanDalhousie universityDo you discriminate? Do your prejudicesshow in your work? Most police officers donot consider their actions or behaviours asdiscriminatory, but they may be surprisedto learn that they are unintentionally biasedin their day-to-day duties. Subtle and evenovert discrimination can manifest in theway a police supervisor treats employeesor in the manner officers interact withthe communities they serve. Often it isunperceived bias that is to blame.Human Rights legislation providesfundamental protection to everyone inCanada for specified activities based uponindividual or group characteristics. Thefirst human rights legislation came intoeffect in the 1960s. Ensuring these rightsare protected and honoured is a continuallyevolving process.Consider the transformation that tookplace between 1960 and 2010 in how policeofficers themselves acquired rights in theirown employment. Not so long ago, a personhad to be of a specific height and weight tobecome a police officer, and women were juststarting to be recruited yet required to resign ifthey became pregnant. The entrenchment andadvancement of human rights has changed thisso that we now enjoy a more equitable workenvironment. Greater latitude in the areasof maternity and parental leave, recruitmentstandards, varied duties for injured or disabledofficers and uniform adjustments are nowafforded to accommodate gender, culture,religion and other protected grounds thathuman rights legislation grants us.With the advent and widespread practiceof community policing principles combinedwith human rights and constitutionallegislation, can discrimination still bepossible? Unfortunately, the answer is yes, butit can be prevented.Although some policing actions may bedeliberately biased, many simply originatefrom a lack of awareness and knowledgeof fundamental human rights andtheir implications.What do police officers need toknow? Human rights legislation providesprotection in the areas of accommodation,employment and goods and services forprotected grounds such as race, colour,religion, gender, age, marital and familystatus, sexual orientation and disability.Just as officers enjoy these rights inemployment, the expectation is that theservice they provide to the public will bedelivered in an equitable manner upholdingthe same protected rights.As with any law, police officers need tostay informed and know what is requiredby these statutes. Each province andterritory, as well as the federal government,has enacted human rights legislation andthe courts uphold these protections asquasi-constitutional, and interpret themliberally. All Acts are similar, yet someminor variations create the need for eachto be reviewed for clarity. For example,the Ontario Human Rights Act specificallynames breastfeeding as a gender-basedactivity whereas the other Acts do notspecially list this protection.intentional or not, it’sstill discriminationIn lay terms, discrimination is anydifferential treatment of a person or groupbased on individual characteristics thatexcludes, denies or prevents that personor group from participating or enjoyingthe same rights, freedoms, liberties oropportunities available to others. Intent isnot required to be proven. It is the effect ofthe treatment that is considered crucial.Discrimination may be direct (intentional)or adverse or systemic where no intentionis involved. A genuine rule or standard mayadversely affect some people such as forcingshift workers to work weekends contraryto religious beliefs. Likewise, height andweight requirements may unfairly eliminatecertain classes of people. Systemic issuesoccur from long-standing prejudices orstereotypes. The old belief that women donot have the body size or strength for policework or firefighting comes to mind.Although legislation focuses onremedying discriminatory situations andworks to resolve, educate and preventdiscrimination rather than applyingpenalties, there are consequences for thosefound contravening these protections. Thereare several avenues to provide victims withrelief from discriminatory situations. Theseinclude mandating educational sessions tothe person who discriminated, changing apolicy or, in some cases, providing monetarycompensation. Civil suits are also possible.All Police Acts include discriminatorybehaviour as discreditable conduct thuscreating possible disciplinary measures.A couple of examples will show howeasily misunderstandings can lead todiscrimination.• Police stop a man in an area wherebreak and enters are frequent. Hespeaks very little and does notopenly respond to questioning.Police arrest him, but later he isreleased unconditionally. It turnsout that he is a rabbi who wasobserving a custom of silenceon the Sabbath, but the arrestingofficer was not familiar with thiscustom. The arresting officer didnot recognize the man’s right tosilence in observance of a religiousobligation. By being aware of thepossibility of a this man’s actionsresulting from a cultural or religiousbasis may have led the officer to adifferent course of action.• A person of colour is stopped forspeeding and police ask him ifhe is Canadian. This seeminglyinnocent question does notrespect human rights. What doesnationality or citizenship haveto do with a traffic violationother than possibly indicate anadverse bias towards a person ofcolour? Would the same officerask a Caucasian person the samequestion? Obtaining the person’sdriver’s licence can answer that22Gazette Vol. 72, No. 3, 2010