Broken trust is the very descriptive title of an eye opening report into the Thunder Bay Police Service and how they investigate Indigenous peoples deaths.
Office of the Independent Police Review Director Gerry McNeilly says overall he finds systemic racism exists in the police force, however not all police officers engaged in intentional racism.
McNeilly suggests the Police should publicly acknowledge racism exists within the force and asks them to take a leadership role in repairing the relationship between the service and the Indigenous community.
The over 200 page report lays out a very descriptive and thorough review of a number of high profile police investigations and racist incidents in our community.
It states police officers too readily presumed the cause of death as an accident in cases of Indigenous sudden deaths.
It goes on to say they failed to take even the most basic investigative steps in a number of sudden death cases.
The report recommends nine sudden death investigations by the Thunder Bay Police Service are so problematic they should be re-investigated.
In the closing remarks, Director McNeilly is hopeful and feels the relationship between police and the Indigenous community can be improved through making some fundamental changes.
Those changes include how police senior management performs its duties including ensuring their investigations are timely, effective and non-discriminatory.
The report also suggests Indigenous culture and anti-racism training must be embedded in the organization and has to be more than just the “flavour of the month”.
Promotions within the force should also be tied to Indigenous cultural competency.
It’s also suggested police acknowledge publicly the serious deficiencies in how it investigates Indigenous missing persons and unexpected deaths.
McNeilly intends to monitor how and to what extent his recommendations are being implemented by our local police force.
To view the entire report, visit http://oiprd.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/OIPRD-BrokenTrust-Final-Accessible…