Report details systemic racism within London Police Service

A report into systemic racism at the London Police Service (LPS) paints a picture of officers who treat non-white people in a domineering and rude way, often stereotyping communities and using excessive force while dismissing victims' suffering.

In particular, Indigenous people reported their medicines not being respected during searches, people of colour said they were treated without empathy, and domestic violence survivors said they felt unsupported by police.

Meanwhile, police officers from within the Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC)communities told researchers there was "subtle and covert" racism within the organization, while white officers, particularly men, believed they were victims of "reverse racism" and claimed that recruitment and promotion criteria were being relaxed to promote diverse people and women at the cost of effectiveness and quality of service.

"I can't say I'm surprised at any of the findings. In policing across Canada and in many institutions across the province and country, there are systemic issues that we have to look at," police Chief Thai Truong told CBC News on Wednesday.

The look at police culture, conducted at the behest of former police chief Steve Williams in 2020 in the wake of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, was released to CBC News after a freedom of information request. Interviewswith Londoners and with officers, as well as surveys of both groups by Hina Kalyal, a research analyst who works for the police service, were compiled and written up in 2021, Truong said.

The report would have been released eventually, the chief said, but CBC's request prompted its publication online earlier this month.

Among the findings:

• BIPOC respondents found officers to be "rude, dismissive, demeaning, judgmental and unresponsive."
• One-third of participants felt their complaints had been dismissed and downplayed by officers and half reported experiencing "outrage, anger, disempowerment, frustration and disappointment" after being disrespected by officers.
• Some Londoners said they felt stereotyped as unfit parents or suffering from drug or alcohol addictions because they were not white.
• Several Indigenous Londoners said their medicines were treated disrespectfully during searches and that officers didn't listen to their explanations about the sacred items.
• People who were treated respectfully and with dignity during interactions with officers said they didn't mind being given traffic tickets or other citations.

There's a commitment to do better among officers said Rick Robson, the executive director of London's police union. "We recognize that there are issues that need to be resolved," he said. "I don't think these findings will be surprising to anyone."

A second phase of the systemic racism report tried to determine whether discrimination exists within the police service and limits career opportunities such as promotions for officers. Diverse officers told researchers they were dissatisfied with their career growth and detailed a culture that relied on favouritism and bonding between white members that excluded others. Other findings included:

• Black, Indigenous and officers of colour said they believed they had limited career development and growth opportunities.
• White officers claimed they were the ones being discriminated against to accommodate women and more diverse officers.
• "The white members (men) claimed that the organization was relaxing the recruitment and promotion criteria to facilitate the BIPOC members and women, at the cost of organizational effectiveness and the quality of service delivery by the London Police Service," the authors of the report wrote.

Standards have not been lowered for female or diverse candidates, Truong told CBC News, adding that more education is needed to change that perception among members and that the organization needs to change to better reflect the community it serves.

"They think that we're lowering our standards for diverse individuals and females getting hired and that simply isn't true," Truong said. "The same goes for promotions.If you look at the senior leadership ranks alone, among inspectors and superintendents, we have one diverse senior officer (out of about 20)."

Educating officers about the importance of interacting with people with dignity is important, Robson said. However, officers see people at some of the worst times in their lives, and officers can strive to do better. "As a society, we need to do a better job of addressing issues of stereotyping and assumptions based on culture."

There are nostaff sergeants that identify as Black, Indigenous or a person of colour, he added.

"In the senior ranks we are not reflective of our community," Truong said. "It doesn't mean that because we don't have diverse leadership there are no diverse leaders that are qualified. It means that for 170 years, our organization has hired predominantly white males,and now we're in 2024 and the community has changed drastically. If you want a police service to service their community, they need to reflect the community they service."

Truong was hired as London's 21st police chief in 2021 and is the first person of colour to hold the position. He appointed Treena MacSween, the highest-ranking police Black woman officer, as one of his deputy chiefs earlier this year.

Truong says he's already been working on changing the systemic racism that exists within the police service at all levels and welcomes outside experts to help him figure out how best to do it. He wants to increase the amount of training officers get with local officersafter they finish at the Ontario Police College from three weeks to seven weeks.

"I need a fresh perspective. It's very difficult to change culture from within but it's important to set ego aside and really dig down and look at where we are and how we can change for the better," Truong said. "We will never be a perfect organization, but we will strive for perfection. We have to because the better police service we are, the better we are for this community."

An outside lens, with experts from Fanshawe College and Western University, could help move that along, he added.

"If someone came in and said, 'We've looked at this and some of our experts want to do a full review and study. Let's look into how the organization feels truly. Let's look into the policies, the procedures. Let's look into all of it,' I would be completely open to that."