Tag: policing

Is there hope for the police officer?

I have no doubt that morale is low and depression high among Winnipeg police officers. They are called into situations of crisis and violence and in many situations they called when the crisis and violence has already occurred, that is, there is little for them to do. It seems that what made this manageable even if difficult was a sense of public value, that they were honored for the difficult situations they were placed in. In August of 2020 Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth attempted to address what he called a ‘breach of the social contract’, namely that the police would uphold their responsibilities and in turn be honoured appropriately. Smyth goes on to name the current ‘woke’ culture that is challenging the necessity of policing as a “steady and constant drumbeat of criticism [that] is taking a toll on the well-being of the women and men who dedicate themselves to serving our community.”[1]

In months we would hear more about low morale and even the suicide an officer. Here again, citizens engaged critical approaches to policing are called out. Chair of the Winnipeg Police Board Markus Chambers is quoted as saying, “There are some people who focus on abolishing police, and simply do not recognize the services… are provided by humans who are also subject to emotion and feeling. We can agree to disagree about funding or defunding, but should not de-value the work that officers do as they literally put their lives on the line.”[2] This critical culture is named explicitly in the obituary of the officer who died by suicide stating, “Sadly the light in his eyes began to dim in latter months as he became increasingly troubled with anti-police protests, campaigns, growing public hatred and cynicism toward police officers.”[3]

In the latest insight into current police culture in Winnipeg a column was written by a recently retired police officer. This input attempts to offer some insight into the lived experience of facing difficult and tragic situations in which one has little time to reflect on actions. We are told that they are in situations in which it is impossible for race to factor into their split second decision and in turn must bear the judgment of a race sensitive culture in which “Had I shot him . . . the purple community and their supporters would undoubtedly have vilified me for shooting a purple person just because he was purple. Circumstances be damned — I’m a racist.” Again in the end there is a naming of rising culture critical of policing of which “the magnitude of this unfettered malevolence directed at police lately is disarming.”[4] That race is viewed as some arbitrary, ahistorical and superficial distinction should make us wonder about what sort of training police do fact in receive. I want, however, to focus on the closing remarks regarding malevolence.

In the last year I have become increasingly invested in understanding and promoting the idea of defunding and abolishing the police. I have been a part of events which, it is true, expressed deep animosity and ‘malevolence’ towards the police. I would like to offer a few thoughts which attempt to take seriously the present experience of individual Winnipeg police officers within a commitment to defunding the police.

Anecdotally when I was in my late teens and early twenties I considered RCMP training. I had no clear career aspirations and I intuitively felt like the RCMP was an honorable and moral expression in society. Had a few circumstances shifted there is no reason I would not have pursued that opportunity. All this to say I understand at least one impulse towards policing. I expect many police officers both entered into and have attempted to carry out their work from a desire literally to ‘serve and protect’. So why not support them? Isn’t the work of serving and protecting still honorable?

While I did not go into policing I did enter another fraught profession, namely Christian ministry. Like policing Christianity has historically communicated its work as benevolent and beneficial to society. And like policing Christianity has had staunch critics who have called for Christianity’s decolonization and some instances outright abolition. For years I was defensive of such criticisms responding with claims that such criticisms were limited or part of a misunderstanding. In time though I learned more about why people criticized Christianity and began to see for myself how the church functioned harmfully. I found both particular harms that could perhaps be dismissed as ‘bad apples’ but I also began to see deep structural problems in how Christianity positions itself as possessing the truth and how that impacts its encounter with non-Christians. So I wrestled with these questions, for years (and still do). There were times that I had to give myself the option of leaving the church if I felt it was too compromised for what I wanted to live and work for. In the end I stayed but in staying I occupied a different place and expression in the church than which I began.

My investment, which as a Christian I come to speak of as ‘gospel’, is in supporting and valuing expressions of peace and just. This is different than being invested in the church or in Christianity. This allows me to be critical where criticism is warranted and be supportive for support is required. This is not a perfect response and I can accept imperfections in life but what I wonder is whether anything like this is even possible within policing.

With only the slimmest acknowledgement of anything like racism as a problem we have witnessed the spokespeople for the Winnipeg Police double down on defending their profession and attacking voluntary activists as literally causing their depression and suicide. Is there any freedom to express deep concerns over systemic abuses? Is there any ability to accept the role of policing in relation to issues of securing wealth and punishing poverty? Can there be calls from within the force that acknowledge that the authorization and implementation of lethal force is hardly ever required for serving the public as well as acknowledging that the threat of such force actually risks escalating a situation towards such ends? Or to put it in a way that I had to for myself. What are you invested in? Are you invested in the wellbeing of those you are called to serve or are you invested in the maintenance of your institution?

Calls to defund the police are only experienced as attacks when you are more invested in the institution of policing than in the wellbeing of the community. I understand that the personal struggle of facing criticism and natural response of defensiveness. As a pastor I am open to speaking anyone about their experiences in this area. But truly this becomes a question of maturity. If someone is not yet able to face and meaningfully engage such criticism than perhaps they are, at the very least, not mature enough to carry a gun.  

If indeed there is no space to explore the harmfulness of policing by police officers themselves then there is little hope either for substantive change or for improved wellbeing of individual officers becoming yet another way in which the structure of policing is inadequate to pursuing peace and wellbeing in our city.

[1] https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/the-lamentable-erosion-of-a-social-contract-572049092.html

[2] https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/depression-anxiety-widespread-in-city-police-force-2013-survey-found-573950892.html

[3] https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/after-tragedy-time-to-reconsider-issues-573930392.html

[4] https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/the-view-from-behind-the-badge-574078452.html

On not calling the police: Rethinking peace and policing

The Winnipeg Police Service has shot and killed three people in less than two weeks. More than ever we need to take care about when we as citizens call the police. More than ever we need to think about the relationship between peace and policing. I have performed many of the ‘criminal’ acts associated with those who were recently killed by the police. I have shot out windows with a gun. I have taken alcohol and a vehicle without permission. The difference was a context that could absorb some of my immature or misguided behavior. I shot out windows on an old barn on the farm I grew up on. We drank booze underage at friends’ places. We took our parents’ vehicles when we shouldn’t have. We did these things because, why, I don’t know. I was bored. I needed to explore boundaries. I was reacting to something. And I was a pretty ‘good’ kid! I never had to worry about getting shot. I never had to deal with my unpredictable behavior responding to a dump of adrenaline when armed men began chasing me.

When I moved to the West End in Winnipeg in 1999 there were certainly times I called the police. I didn’t really think about it. When there is something suspicious or dangerous that is who you call. I called the police in response to a loud party in my apartment. I called the police in response to aggressive behavior I saw on the sidewalk. I don’t know what happened to any of these calls. Over time I began learning more about the uneasy relationship between the police and those struggling with how to respond to poverty, addiction, unsupported poor health or settler induced trauma. I began to understand the complex web of family-youth-gang entanglements and how introducing the police into already difficult circumstances may not be the best choice.

Spring always seems to be a time when kids are out in the back lanes breaking shit. About eight years ago there was a group of four or so youth walking up and down our back lane. They were breaking some property including throwing something through our back window which was part of our kitchen where we usually sit to eat. Our son was about two at the time. That felt scary. I saw the kids one day and called the police. I started to describe the situation and when they asked me to describe their ‘ethnicity’ I froze. I decided to hang up. I thought about what to do. The kids were still out in the back lane. I opened my garage door and asked them if they had seen anyone throwing rocks in windows. They said no. I said that my son often eats in that room and was worried about him. They sort of just kept moving.

Most kids know something of being scared. I hoped that maybe they could feel a connection in how they were doing something to make another kids feel scared, not in shame but how they were being asked to help and not being accused. But being scared is tough. It is hard to act well in fear. I know I was scared to approach those boys and I certainly wouldn’t expect everyone to do something like that. And fear is a huge factor in all of this. Calling the police is a way of addressing our fear. But the police are afraid as well. We need to deescalate fear and the police are trained to defend themselves with force against fear not deescalate. Fear and anger can take on wildly different forms. We need an intervention into these current forms of violence fueled by fear and anger. While under our current model there will likely remain times to call the police but there is good reason in many situations not to call the police. Knowing more stories of police/public altercations there is no reason one of those kids in my back lane wouldn’t have got shot. Put me in a different scenario growing up doing almost exactly the same things I did do and I could have been shot.

There are things that are scary and we all want to be safe but there are better ways to approach this than our current model of policing. There are growing resources pointing to alternatives but we as a culture and society need to see the value in investing in these alternatives. But there remains in our society widespread approval for police shootings sometimes as tragically necessary but for many others as something that should be applauded and expanded to rid ourselves of people like me who just had a different context and experience in which to grow up and navigate life which is often hard enough at the best of times.

If you are interested in how to think differently about the relationship between peace and policing Dr Bronwyn Dobchuk-Land at First Mennonite Church last month. Her talk gives an excellent introduction to this topic particularly for the context of Winnipeg. The audio link is below.

https://soundcloud.com/david-driedger-568689722/keeping-the-peace-peace-and-policing-in-winnipeg

Also consider following Winnipeg Police Cause Harm on social media.
https://twitter.com/WpgPoliceHarm
https://www.facebook.com/wpgpoliceharm