Black people and Indigenous peoples of Canada have been victims of Police Brutality In Canada. While there are many differences, there can, at times be overlooked or ignored by the very system that should protect them.
One trait of these lived realities is a refusal to accept it among many in the political class. Current and former political leaders, including Doug Ford and Stockwell Day, were quick to say that Canada is not a racist society.
Indigenous and Black people are overwhelmingly overrepresented in police-involved deaths in Canada. Between 2007 and 2017, Indigenous peoples represented one-third of people shot to death by RCMP police officers (Mercer, Fiddler, & Walsh, 2020). The Ontario Human Rights Commission found that a Black person was more than 20 times more likely to be shot and killed by the police compared to a white person (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2018) and still nothing has been done to change this.
One in five Black people are not confident in police
Black people have and continue to experience various forms of racism, discrimination, and unfair treatment in Canada, many of which are specific to the criminal justice system. For example, Black people are overrepresented at many different stages of the criminal justice system, ranging from proactive and discretionary policing practices such as stops, charges, or arrests, through to incarceration (Owusu-Bempah et al. 2021; Ontario Human Rights Commission 2021).
The 2020 General Social Survey (GSS) on Social Identity included questions on levels of confidence in various Canadian institutions, including the police and the justice system and courts.Note While overall, more than half of people were confident in police, the proportions varied considerably between ethno-cultural groups. According to the 2020 GSS on Social Identity, seven in ten (70%) non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people 15 years of age and older were confident in the police, compared to about half of Black (54%) people (Table 1).
More than one in five (21%) Black people had little or no confidence in the police, which was the case for about one in ten (11%) non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people. The proportion of Black men (24%) and Black women (19%) who had little or no confidence in police did not differ significantly, but in both cases was higher than the proportions among non-Indigenous, non-visible minority men (12%) and women (8%).
Levels of confidence in the justice system and courts were similar among Black people and non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people, of whom just over half were confident (54% and 53%, respectively).
Certain measures of police performance more likely to be rated unfavourably by Black people
While the GSS on Social Identity asked more broadly about Canadian institutions, the GSS on Victimization focused more specifically on perceptions of different agents and aspects of the criminal justice system: namely, police, courts, prison, and parole. Respondents were asked if police, courts, prison, and parole were doing a good job, an average job, or a poor job across a variety of job or performance indicators. For the most part, police performance was evaluated similarly between Black people and those who were neither Indigenous nor visible minority people (Table 2).
Research on perceptions of police performance often distinguishes between operational and interpersonal elements (Sprott and Doob 2014; Cotter 2015). Operational elements can include tasks that are, broadly speaking, more objectively measurable, such as promptly responding to calls and ensuring the safety of citizens. In contrast, interpersonal aspects are related to the relationship between police and the community they serve, such as being approachable or treating people fairly.
It was notable that while overall perceptions on operational measures were similar, there were significant differences in how police were seen in the interpersonal dimension. Black people were less likely to feel that police were doing a good job of being approachable and easy to talk to (41%) and treating people fairly (30%) compared with non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people (52% and 45%, respectively).
Black women and men had similar perceptions of these interpersonal measures. Four in ten Black women (42%E) and men (41%E) felt police were doing a good job being approachable, while three in ten (31%E each) felt police were doing a good job treating people fairly. Likewise, there were no significant differences between Black women and men for any of the operational measures included in the GSS (Chart 1).
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Data table for Chart 1
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In all, three in ten Black (30%) people rated at least one element of local police performance poorly, a higher proportion than among non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people (19%). Similar proportions of Black women (32%) and men (26%) rated at least one aspect poorly.
Canadian-born Black people have more negative perceptions of police
Research and data on perceptions has shown that recent immigrants tend to be more positive in their perceptions of institutions, and perceptions tend to align more with the non-immigrant population over time and subsequent generations (Statistics Canada 2021b; Owusu-Bempah et al. 2021; Roder and Muhlau 2011). This was apparent when it came to perceptions of police performance among the Black population, with those born in Canada having considerably more negative perceptions. Among the Black Canadian-born population, 58%E rated at least one element of police performance poorly, compared with 20% of the non-Indigenous, non-visible minority population born in Canada.
In contrast, 15% of Black immigrants rated at least one aspect of police performance poorly, a result that was not different from the non-Indigenous, non-visible minority population and far below the proportion among Canadian-born Black people. For five of the six measures of police performance measured by the GSS, Black immigrants were more likely than Canadian-born Black people to state police were doing a good job (Chart 2).
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Black people under 40 years of age view police more negatively
Black people under the age of 40 were more likely to rate at least one element of police performance poorly, when compared with their non-Indigenous, non-visible minority counterparts (41%E versus 24%). Specifically, three in ten (29%E) Black people under 40 felt that police were doing a poor job treating people fairly, three times higher than the proportion of non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people under 40 (9%).
When looking at the perceptions of those 40 years of age and over, however, Black people (17%) and non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people (17%) were equally likely to state that police were performing poorly in at least one aspect of their job. Previous analysis of perceptions of police has found that, in general, older people have more positive perceptions of police (Ibrahim 2020).
One-third of Black people had contact with police in past 12 months, similar to non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people
Recent analysis of the 2019 GSS found that recent encounters with police were associated with perceptions of police performance, even when controlling for other socio-economic and demographic characteristics (Ibrahim 2020). Largely due to the public-facing nature of their work, when people do come into direct contact with the justice system, it is most commonly with the police. This direct contact can have a considerable impact on general perceptions, in particular if this contact is perceived to be negative. Despite this, as many people do not have direct contact with police, factors other than contact can inform perceptions.
One-third (32%) of Black people had contact with police, a proportion that was not statistically different from non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people (36%) (Table 3). Contact with police could be for a variety of reasons, including through work, volunteering, or public information sessions, traffic violations, as a victim or witness to a crime, by being arrested, or due to personal or family-related problems with emotions, mental health, drugs, or alcohol. Though overall levels of contact were similar, when looking at the specific reasons for contact with police, Black people were less likely than non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people to have had contact through a public information session (3% versus 6%) or as a witness to a crime (3% versus 5%).
In addition to the type of contact, whether the interaction with police is seen as positive or negative can have an impact on overall perceptions of and confidence in police. Regardless of ethno-cultural group, according to the GSS, the majority of interactions with police in Canada were perceived as positive. Eight in ten (81%E) Black people felt that their experience with police was, on the whole, positive, not statistically different from the non-Indigenous, non-visible minority population (89%).
Although contact with police, particularly negative contact, can influence overall views of police, the majority of Black people did not have contact with police – and, those who did most often felt it was positive. This suggests that the more negative perceptions of police and lower levels of confidence among Black people are related to factors beyond individual experiences.
One potential factor is experiences of discrimination or other negative interactions, which can influence overall views of police. Furthermore, when discrimination or unfair treatment targets a particular group or community broadly, the negative impacts are felt by others who are part of that group, beyond the individuals who are directly impacted. Data from the 2019 GSS show that Black people were more likely than those who were non-Indigenous, non-visible minority to have been discriminated against in an interaction with police (Cotter 2022).
Of all Black people 15 years of age and older in Canada, 7% indicated having been discriminated against by police. This was similar to the proportion among Indigenous people (7%). Both Black and Indigenous people were far more likely than other visible minority (2%) or non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people (0.6%) to have experienced discrimination in this context.
Black immigrants have more positive perceptions of criminal courts in Canada
Many people, regardless of population group, stated that they did not know if courts or the prison or parole systems were doing a good, average, or poor job at a variety of aspects (Table 4). This may, in part, reflect the fact that relatively few Canadians have direct experience with the criminal courts.
Among those who did provide their perception of the work of criminal courts, Black people generally had a more positive perception than non-Indigenous, non-visible minority people. For example, the proportion of Black people who felt criminal courts were doing a good job at providing justice quickly (20%) and helping victims (28%) was more than double that among the non-Indigenous, non-visible minority population (8% and 12%, respectively).
These more positive perceptions were largely driven by the perspectives of Black immigrants, who were more likely to rate the performance of courts favourably than were Canadian-born Black people (Chart 3). Black immigrants were more likely than Canadian-born Black people to feel courts were doing a good job providing justice quickly, helping victims, and determining whether the accused person is guilty or not.
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The notion of police being there to serve and protect in times of need often does not apply to Indigenous, Black or other racialized minorities in Canada.
Police need to be held accountable for their actions in 21st-century Canada.
