Minorities' view of police worsens: Canadian-born children of immigrants hold most negative opinions, U of T study finds

Minorities' view of police worsens
Canadian-born children of immigrants hold most negative opinions, U of T study finds

Jim Rankin feature writer
Published On Fri Nov 06 2009
The Toronto Star

From: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/722011--minorities-view-of-police-worsens

Unfavourable perceptions of police and the criminal justice system have grown deeper in Toronto, and the most negative views are held by Canadian-born racial minorities, according to a study by University of Toronto researchers.

The study by criminology professor Scot Wortley and doctoral student Akwasi Owusu-Bempah - published Oct. 23 in the Journal of International Migration and Integration - suggests new immigrants have a favourable view of the justice system when they arrive, but that this erodes over time, and that their Canadian-born children hold the most negative views.

Generally, residents of all racial backgrounds who were involved in the study have favourable views of the police, but negative perceptions were higher amongst black and Chinese residents. The study included a partial replication of a 1994 survey that, in part, served as a basis for the 1995 Commission on Systemic Racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice System. The follow-up survey was conducted in 2007.

The publication of the report comes as the controversial case of Chinese shopkeeper David Chen, who faces charges of assaulting and confining a shoplifter, winds its way through court.

Wortley and Owusu-Bempah say the study should serve as a catalyst to re-examine and measure the effectiveness of policies aimed at addressing bias, whether perceived or real. They answered questions by email.

Star: A lot, as you note, has apparently been done to try and make these feelings, which you might as well call a reality for many, go away. And it’s gotten worse. Why?

SW: I think it is important to stress that, regardless of racial background, the overall perceptions of police performance are positive. More positive, in fact, than public perceptions regarding the performance of the criminal courts. However, among Torontonians, the perception that the police and courts are biased appears to have increased between 1994 and 2007 for all racial groups - including whites.

For racial minorities, the perception of discrimination may result from family and peer group socialization experiences, vicarious contacts with the justice system, such as negative stories about justice system from family and friends, or actual personal experiences.

It is also extremely important to note that our own research, as well as the research of Wesley Skogan in the United States, indicates that negative experiences with the police have a much stronger impact on personal beliefs about the police than positive experiences. In other words, community policing, police officers in schools and other efforts to reach out to minority communities may not be able to erase the negative impact of contacts with the police that are viewed as aggressive, illegitimate or unjust. Many positive interactions with the police can be undone by a single negative experience.

It is therefore important to note that, in Toronto, at the same time that minority outreach strategies have been developed, a number of aggressive street policing strategies have also been implemented. Although such strategies may help reduce gun and gang crime in targeted communities, and perhaps save lives, they might also draw innocent people into the web of suspicion and directly contribute to the perception among some civilians that the police are biased or unfair. I think this is a topic that deserves more research.

It is funny, I have recently heard youth state that they like and admire the police officers who work in their school, but still have a negative view of the police overall. One African Canadian youth I spoke to recently said that the police officers who come to his school during the day are great - but he felt that they were just the “public relations” police. The real police, he said, come into his community after dark and they don’t treat youth as respectfully.

The question of why the perception of racial discrimination has increased among whites is very interesting. There are two likely explanations. First of all, over the past 15 years, white people may have become more aware of the issue of racism through the education system, popular music, television, movies and the news media. Research also indicates that interracial friendships are increasing. Thus, it is possible that white people are now more likely to be influenced by the opinions and experiences of their minority friends and colleagues.

Star: A summary of the study was delivered at a recent, closed session at a conference on racially-biased policing that was hosted by Toronto police. What was the reaction?

AOB: It was generally positive. A number of police services approached us to ask how they could obtain a copy of the final report. It’s also important to note that many police leaders who spoke at this conference acknowledged that racism was a serious problem within policing. A problem that deserves immediate policy attention.

Star: Your study suggests that the children of racial minority immigrants have the most negative views. What should policy-makers make of that one?

AOB & SW: In the past, many policy-makers were comfortable with the idea that some racial minority groups have poor opinions of the police and justice system in Canada because of their experiences in their country of origin.I think it was an attractive explanation because it deflected attention away from the situation in Canada. It deflected responsibility - it was a way of saying it is not our fault these people feel this way. I think our findings suggest that these perceptions are actually based on Canadian experiences - and thus deserve serious attention from Canadian policy-makers.

Star: You mention the importance of somehow auditing or measuring the efforts to deal with these perceptions, in order to ensure that these are not merely “window dressing.” How would one do that?

SW: In our opinion, many police leaders - including Chief Bill Blair and deputy chiefs Keith Forde and Peter Sloley from the Toronto Police Service - are truly committed to eliminating racism and improving police relations with racial minority communities. However, we are not aware of how these strategies - including race relations training - are being evaluated. I think it is important that more attention be given to monitoring police activities on the street and determining what anti-racism programs work and what programs require further development. I also think that all evaluation efforts should be transparent. I think such transparency will help convince a sometimes cynical public that the system is dedicated to change.
We also think that some patience is required. There may be a significant period of time between the implementation of anti-racism initiatives and an actual change in public perceptions. We call this a lagged effect. For example, current increases in minority hiring by the TPS may not have an immediate impact on public opinion - but they could have an impact a few years down the line.

Star: Your study comes with a few caveats, among them, that it only deals with those who identify as either white, black or Chinese. Also, since the benchmark study in ’94, we’ve had 9/11, and missing are perceptions of South and West Asians. Best guess, without further study, what do you see in the not-so-distant future for Canada in terms of perceptions of police and courts?

SW: For financial reasons, our studies have been restricted to three major racial groups. Future research, in our opinion, should address the opinions and beliefs of all major ethnic groups. For example, it would have been very interesting to document whether the opinions of South Asians and West Asians towards the Canadian justice system were impacted by the security response to 9/11.
It is hard to determine how perceptions of the justice system will evolve. Hopefully, recent policy initiatives will have a positive impact. But many people incorrectly assumed that things would have improved between 1994 and 2007. This underscores the need for future research and the importance of tracking these perceptions through the next decade.