Jurist British Columbia Human Rights Commissioner announces inquiry into police use of force

[Dadparvar]

British Columbia Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender announced on Tuesday that the commission will hold an inquiry into the use of force by the police against minorities and individuals with mental health issues. This builds upon a 2021 Canadian report titled “Equity is Safer: Human rights considerations for policing reform in British Columbia.”

The report raised concerns over the growth of the use of police force at a disproportionate rate against minorities and those suffering from mental health issues. The commission aims to gather data to quantify the impacts of increasing police use of force. The report noted that Indigenous and Black people are grossly or significantly overrepresented in arrests. It added that Hispanic and “Arab/West Asian” people are also overrepresented in many police jurisdictions. Govender also said that the commission will analyse the data and make recommendations to address concerns of systemic discrimination.

The report suggested that the government should work with Indigenous peoples on a government-to-government basis on legislative amendments to the Police Act. It also added that the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General should take steps to amend the Police Act to expressly authorise the police to collect race-based and other demographic data to address systemic discrimination in policing.

In response to launching the inquiry, Govender stated:

There is a direct connection between equity and community safety. Systemic discrimination erodes the foundation of trust between communities and law enforcement, jeopardizing the safety of all residents. This inquiry aims to better understand who is at the receiving end of use of force by police, whether any disproportionate impact revealed amounts to systemic discrimination and what can be done to address any equity issues that emerge. As I have said before, “we cannot act on what we do not know.”

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