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EDMONTON POLICE SERVICE REPORT TO THE EDMONTON POLICE COMMISSION DATE: 20160411 SUBJECT: Completion of Research Work Entitled “The Somali Experience In Alberta” RECOMMENDATION(S) That this report be received for information BACKGROUND: In August of 2014, a Research Proposal entitled “The Somali Experionce in Alberta” was received by the Strategic Planning, Evaluation, and Research Unit within the Office of Strategy Management. The researchers submiting the proposal are Dr. Sandra Bucerius from the University of Alberta's department of Sociology and Dr. Sara ‘Thompson of Ryerson University’s department of Criminal Justice and Criminology. ‘The project proposal focused on: 1) a qualitative analysis of 150 in-depth interviews and surveys with Somali Canadians, and 2) an examination of strategies that police and their relevant community partners deploy to communicate with and build relationships within the Somali community. The researchers are seeking assistance from EPS on the 2'* point and have requested to conduct interviews with members in order to glean this information. The project was approved by Chief KNECHT in February 2015. The researchers ‘completed their interviews with EPS members in September of 2015 and submitted a draft report for EPS consideration and approval in February of 2016. COMIMENTSIDISCUSSION: ‘The findings of the report are generally very positive for the EPS and highlight a culture that emphasizes the importance of community policing and relationship building in diverse communities. The report (attached to Briefing Note) is broken down along six headings. The headings ~ along with a brief synopsis of content- are as follows: ‘Knowledge of the Somali Community- Across all ranks and divisions, interviewed members had a good general knowledge about the Somali community in Edmonton. General Emphasis on Policing - The great majority of officers, across all ranks and divisions, agreed that the EPS has a very strong community engagement/policing crientation. They see this supported and pushed by their superiors, and particulary, the Chief of police. General thoughts on building relationships with community members- The ‘overwhelming majority of participants emphasized that cultivating strong and trusting relationships with community members is the pre-requisite for good police work AND had conerate ideas as to how hest to achieve this goal. More specifically, members emphasized the importance of listening to and learning from community members (including victims), and to adapt policing strategies to their recommendations and needs. More importantly, members highlighted the importance of establishing relationships in “good times’, before problems arise. The role of training- All ofthe senior officers and most junior officers interviewed stressed the importance of training when it comes to understanding the importance of ‘community engagement and developing a community mindset in the execution of their duties. Relationship with the Somali community in Edmonton- Most members interviewed identified the January tst 2011 homicide at Papyrus Lounge as a turning point for how EPS engaged with diverse communities, Following controversial comments made by a homicide detective about the lack of cooperation within the community the organization made deliberate efforts to improve the relationship. Many officers explained that while the Service's membership is, overall, more culturally aware now than before, there are sill tensions and misunderstandings that arise between the community and police. Approach to Policing Radicalization - Approximately 2/3tds (39 of 57) of the members interviewed had ideas about how to police radicalization, whereas 18 members indicated that they *had no ides CONCLUSIOI Report and presentation provided for your information. Written by: Daniel Spanu, Office uf Staley Management Division Reviewed By: James Clover, Office of Strategy Management Division—\ Approved by: Brian Roberts, Ofice of Strateg) sion: LS Chief of Police: Date: APRA 2006 ‘The Somali experience in Alberta: Interviews with members of the Edmonton Police Service on community outreach ‘trategioe and their experiences with the Somali diaspora in Kdmantan Research report prepared by: Dr. Sandra M, Buoerius, University of Alberta Dr. Sara K. Thompson, Ryerson University ‘Katherine Hancock, M.A. (graduate student atthe University of Alberta) Funded by the Kanishka Initiative ‘TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ‘Methodology and Samples Findings Knowledge about the Somali community General emphasis of policing General thoughts on building relationships ‘with community members ‘The toe of training Relationship with the Somali community in Edmonton Approach to policing radicalization tems for change/Recommendations Selected survey results from the Somali community Biographical Information Discrimination Police Issues in the Somali community adad ¢ n “ 16 a a 8 30 31 33 Introduction ‘The findings preseted inthis executive summary are based on Phase 2 of athnes- year project entitled “The Somali Experience in Alberta: Hypermarginaization and which 301 Somali community members between the ages of 16 and 30 in Edmonton, Alberta “Places of Belonging”. Phase | of this research involved in-depth interviews. ‘were asked a variety of questions covering personal background and immigration information, along with intgration experiences, experiences with Canadian institutions ‘and in mainstream society, family dynamies and gender roles, religious attitudes, issues ‘of eoncem within the community and, finally, perceptions of radical groups commonly associated with the community (Le. al Shabsab). In particular, the interviews with ‘Somali-Canadian youth and young adults were conducted between 2013 and 2015, and though study participants do report negative views ofthe police, the data also show many positive atitucdes towards the police, as wel as some hunger for more community participatory policing initiatives (please refer to survey data document, attached). Specifically, youth expressed support for community engagement activities in place of ‘more familiar, traditional policing or crime control strategies. In Phase 2, police interviews with members of the Edmonton Police Services (EPS) across all ranks and divisions were conducted from February until June 2015, to examine the awareness of community outreach strategies within the organization, and to identity best practices. In particular, the researchers were interested in learning about ‘members? perceptions of which strategies and initiatives they felt were most effective in building relationships and partnerships with diverse communities, with a particular focus ‘on those aimed at reducing the risk of violence and violent extremism within the Somali- Canadian community ‘The relationship between the Somali community and the Edmonton Police Service has historically been tenvous, and was further undermined in the wake ofa series ‘of homicides involving Somali vietims between 2008 and 2011. Over this three year period, at least 23 young Somali-Canadian men were murdered in Alberta (Wingrove é Mackeael,2012). An EPS homicide detective notoriously expressed frustration with the ‘community's apparent lack of cooperation with police investigations in one particular case, stating: “We know the individual in hospital knows who shot him, he won't talk, We knowr there are other people inside who saw the suspect... Of all the people we interviewed, one person provides a suspect description - absolutely ludicrous” (Farle, 2011), Tn response, community leaders countered that police were unduly paying attention to race and ethnicity, and that attention ought to be placed on wy some ‘community members feo! afiaid to come forward as witnesses. Perhaps paradoxically, itis precisely this statement that many ofthe young. ‘Somali Canadians we interviewed identified asthe impetus for change in the relationship, ‘between the community and the police. While « majority of young Somali-Canadians in ‘our sample stil describes the relationship between community and police as “difficult”, they also state that it has improved following the homicide detect tnd the backlash —and dialogue -that ensued. For example, one ofthe young Somali- Canadian study participants state: 's public statement, Initially, many people were outraged by this cop's statement. But over time, ‘many also realized that he had a point. And T think for the cops it might have ‘een similar. So, maybe this was a point where the cops and some people inthe ‘community moved...so maybe this statement, which Estill dink was ‘oumageous and racist, was necessary to get something going. And for tha, it ‘was good that it was made, It changed things on both sides. ‘Methods and sample In Phase 2 ofthe study, we conducted 57 in-depth interviews with som _members ofthe EPS seross five police divisions (excluding South Fast). Our sample drow from all ranks: we interviewed 23 constables (Patrol, Beat, and SROs), 8 sergeants, 5 staff sergeants, 7 inspectors, 6 superintendents, | deputy chief, and the Chief, as well as 6 officers of unidentified rank (these officers asked not to have thet rank mentioned in the report), Only one respondent was female. To recruit officers for the interviews, the lead researcher, Dr. Sandra Buceris, presented the study at several EPS meetings, and ‘worked closely withthe Equity, Diversity, and Human Rights Section, Interested offcers followed up with the researcher via email and signed up for interviews. Each interview consisted of 22 questions (questionnaire attached). Our interview ‘guide consisted of questions asking about topics such as police members’ knowledge of Somali culture, experiences with the Somali community (both in a policing context and _more generally), sourees of information on the community, training opportunities in cultural sensitivity and radicalization detection, suggestions for areas of improvement, ‘and so forth The average interview was 41minutes long, and the interviews ranged from 18 minutes to 92 minutes. The interview questions were largely informed by key themes that emerged from interviews with young Somali-Canadians in Phase 1 ofthe research, but also from interviews with sworn members at Toronto Police Service (who participated in a related study), in order to best ensure that they were meaningful and appropriate for the present research, Interviews were conducted by one of the prinepal investigators, Sandra Bucerus, and a graduate student research assistant. Both terviewers have extensive experience ‘conducting research on issues specific to Somali communities in Canada Findings 44) Knowledge about the Somali community ‘Across all ranks and divisions, our participants have a good general knowledge about the Somali diaspora in Edmonton. When asked to identify key issues that the ‘community is facing, members predominately identified racism and discrimination, rather than crime-related issues, which suggests a broad awareness of the disadvantaged position the community occupies in Canadian society. When asked to identify erime- related issues that affeet members of the Somali-Canadian community, officers predominately identified the same issues mentioned by our young Somali participants ~ namely violeat crime, gang-related activity, and domestic violence. In contrast to our key young Somali-Canadian study participants, who identified radicalization as a ‘cancer in the community, EPS members by and large did not identify this issue as @ key cconcem from their perspective. The majority of officers also identified negative experiences with police in Somalia as @ key reason why Somali community members in Edmonton may view the police negatively. EPS members believe that negative experiences with police in their home country significantly impacts their ability to gain trust of community members in Exmonton, Overall, the majority of officers did not have detiled knowledge about Somali culture, religion, and migration/integration experiences. Most constables were not aware ‘that Somalis are Muslim, however, most stressed that “Y don't care where you come i beat officers, cantly help them from, I treat everyone with respect.” The majority of constables, inclu stressed that having more knowledge about the community would in their day-to-day interactions, For example, one officer described an example of how his colleagues almost aggravated an artes situation by not realizing why the person who ‘was under arrest was agitated and aggressive: “Tam at that arrest, and the guy is completely agitated. Freaking out and going mus. And my colleagues became increasingly concerned because here you have this guy freaking out and becoming aggressive. And then I saw thatthe Quaran was lying on the ‘ground ~ the guy just wanted to pick it up. But my colleagues di not pick up on this, Because they don’t know the rules, So, he got to pick up the Quaran anc was cooperating “after. Rules like that, we need to know them. No one teaches tha stuff! ‘Some interviewees described having received cultural competency taining, but they usually stated it was quite limited and not specific to Somali-Canadians, When asked ‘hat training is available for swom EPS members, officers often told us about online programming of which they were aware, for example: “1s pretty generic multiculturalism. Like i's diversity —they'l use Blanket terms like “harassment in the workplace” and then they talk about the racial aspect and ethnic aspect, so they are pretty broad scape-type workshops. [have never attended an EPS- sponsored function with, “let's talk about Somalians” [sic], and this ype of raining It would just be multiculturalism as a whole. ‘While officers articulated the perception that some cultural competency training was {forced upon them (the Aboriginal training day was often mentioned as example), by management that feels they lack these competencies (“do [management] “think [5] we're «all that bad? "), most members argue that they (and thir colleagues) are good people with good intentions —and can therefore appreciate the value of such training. As such, members reported that there would likely be less push buck i training opportunities were ‘offered tactfully, and are described as something that might be beneficial to the members themselves (in addition to being beneficial for community members): “If they rammed {the training] down the guys’ throats saying, “You guys aren't culturally sensitive to Somalis, you need fo take this taining," gups are going to push back saying, “Sorew that, we're culturally sensitive to everybody." But if they sold it ina different ‘manner that was les forceful and a litle bit more just, “Ths is training we are going to ‘provide you so you can have some better interactions, help you deal with these people, it ‘might be aitle bir more beneficial, right?” ‘Some of our interviewees deseribed more recent cultural competency training cfforts, particularly in sections thet manage the lion’s share of investigations involving, formed ws that Somali-Canadian offenders, such as drug and gang unit. One sergeant the current exchange of information related to “East Afreans or Somalis” mainly ‘occurred between specialized units, and with one or two members inthe divisions with ‘whom they share intelligence. To his knowledge, there is no information sharing “berween divisions and between gang unit and the frontline guys. There's no cultural awareness or anything like thot... There's no classes for our guys. There's no online stuff ‘we cam say, “Here's [some information] about the Somali culture.” There's nothing to help with thar” Others vaguely remembered a training opportunity made available to investigators responding to domestic assaults and “dealing with Somatian [sie] community or Muslim community, kind of how they operate, how the femate is within the nlerarchy within males.” From their recollection, this course was not intended to help in “bridging gaps with the community”, but rather had an investigative-focus, Beat officers, in particular, stressed that it would be helpful to receive knowledge ‘ahout communities (in general) before taking on a new beat. In particular, they mentioned that “te makes no sense that we get assigned a new beat and then you have fo start from scratch, There should be a knowledge base. Information like: there are Somalis in your beat, here's training on that community. And details like. here is how you can engage ‘people on that corner, here is something about the religion in that beat ete. If that information could be easily accessible, it would make our lives a lot easier. We basically reed fo learm everything on the job, alot of tial and error.” “The great majority of lower ranking members agreed that they lear specifies about the ‘communities they work with on the job (rather than via formal taining protocols), and agreed that having more informstion about the communities that they predominately interact with would save them from initial missteps. Members also expressed the sentiment that you “can't know everything about everyone”, however, they stressed that information should be shared before being assigned a new district or beat. Having said that, officers expressed differing opinions on how information should be shared. Some indicated that they would prefer to receive more training days, whereas others believed that an online dats base that officers could access on a “need to know” basis would be beneficial. Almost all members that we interviewed agreed that having a person to as would be very beneficial. While some already contact about community-related qu have such contact person (ether within the EPS or within the community, all but two of the lower ranking members we interviewed expressed that having official contact persons for information would be beneficial, About half of the members we interviewed knew ‘whom to ask for information or advice regarding a specifi cultural group if need be (the EDHR Section was mentioned several times), but the other half noted that they ate “not sure” of “lst” ) General emphasis of policing ‘The great majority of officers, cross all ranks and divisions, agreed that the EPS bas a very strong community engagement/policing orientation, They sce this supported and pushed by their superiors, and particulaely, the Chief of police. Building relationships with community members is described as being “expected and nothing special. It's a basic aspect of our work.” As one interview participant pointed out, this orientation is reflected in the service's name change: “ifyou “look atthe name of us, we used to be the Edmonton Police Force now we're the Edmonton Police Service, and that was a word ‘change, bu it directs what you're supposed todo.” Many ofthe higher ranking members, ‘but also members in the lower ranks with more experience on the job, view it as their responsibilty to commut ‘That is, many talk about “guiding” younger members by example, and showing them that they need fo take time to build relationships in the community, and should therefore not bbe overly concerned with meeting enforcement-based quotas. ‘This community cate the service's community policing mindset to new recruits cengagementpolicing orientation is understood to have long been something that sets the EPS apart from other police organizations; some members explicitly steted that this is Why they wanted to work for EPS, as opposed to the RCMP, for example. A superintended mentioned: “Since I've Been here there's always been a push from the top down about community ‘engagement, Whether or not people buy into itis a totally differen thing but i's aways ‘been made important by the senior leadership, always, I think we're doing a good job bur we need more actions, not just words. Ishink it's become a better job. since we started bringing people like Natasha [Gouder, from the Equity, Diversity, and Human Rights Section] in.” White all ofthe members we interviewed stressed that EPS is community oriented police service, about half of the members inthe Iower ranks, predominately constables, ‘mentioned that they have very litle time to engage community members because “we Ihave to go from call to call to call", While they understand the financial pressure the ‘organization is under (given the current economic climate, a fast growing city, and the fact that the budget will not be inereased despite having to serve more people, they stress that they are under-resourced and over-worked! “We are just putting out fires. One fre after the other, We're lke a fre department Don't quote me on that, no one wants to bea firemen. But it jeopardizes police work We ‘ean’s do community policing when we run from fre to fre. ‘The eal for more constables and, especially, beat officers was shared among ALL lower- sions, as was the fear that the current econo ‘ranking members across all ‘will have a significant negative impact on community policing: “We are already short on staf, we need so many more people on the ground with the city expanding atthe rate it does. We have made such positive strives in working with communities, but if we don't have more people in these positions, we won't be able to eep it up.” Several officers drew a link between responding (© high numbers of calls for service and the effects this has on officers’ capacity for community engagement: “If you are running from call to call, you are just stressed. We have to be at our best ‘because the people will always remember you, and we never meet them in good situation. When the police show up, it's a bad situation in your life. So, we have to be at our best ‘But when you are just putting out fires, ou can't be at your best all the time”. In terms of the EPS's approach to policing, there is also a general understanding among police officers that unreasonable use of force is not acceptable and will be reprimanded. In total, oly four members complained about this~in their opinion, “the (Chief does nos understand what it means to work inthe streets”, and is “out of touch with reality". It should be noted that all four members who had a negative view about the ‘organization's stance on use of force were relatively junior members within the frst 10 yenrs of their policing career (research demonstrates that these are among. the officers ‘who are most ikely to justify the excessive use of force). © General thoughts on building relationships with community members ‘The overwhelming majority of participants emphasized that cultivating strong and ‘rusting relationships with community members isthe pre-requisite for good police work AND had conerete ideas as to how best to achieve this goal. More specifically, members ‘emphasized the importance of listening to and learning feom community members (ncluding vitims), and to adapt policing strategies to their recommendations and needs. ‘More importantly, members highlighted the importance of establishing relationships in “good times", before problems arse. It was stated several times that these bonds are the ‘pre-requisite for police work ifand when problems aise. One member ssid this very ‘i ly: “Phe bad times will abvays roll around, Always, That's why our real work is in the good times, We need to make sure to work hard on our community ties in good times sé that we ‘cam work with the community TOGETHER when the bad times come” Equally important, officers stressed that using disretion in their dealings with ‘community members is important to build trusting relationships: “So, where [find you drinking behind a back alley ana I'm telling you to dump it out, as apposed to giving you

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