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Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Community groups push restorative justice for racialized Winnipeggers
Community groups in Winnipeg are pushing for a more restorative approach to policing and prosecuting racialized communities in Winnipeg. An event on Saturday organized by the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg (SPCW) and other community groups saw the release of a new report and manual that looks to highlight "the lived realities of safety, trust, and community belonging for racialized and newcomer youth in Winnipeg." The "Community Solutions for Safety for Racialized Newcomer Youth in Winnipeg," report, published this month by the Immigration Partnership Winnipeg, collected first-hand accounts from 76 youth between the ages of 13 and 35. The youth came from diverse immigrant, ethnocultural, educational, gendered and socioeconomic backgrounds, each having unique lived experiences and views on safety in the city, including the local police force and justice system. Report authors Darrien Morton and Matt Fast found that some youth wanted more police protection while others wanted officers to stay away – and some didn't want to talk about police at all. Meanwhile, community leaders described their exhaustion and frustration with "performative police engagement." "What communities asked for, more than anything, was accountability. A safe presence. Someone to turn to. And what's even better, adequate resources," Morton and Fast wrote. The report shows that racialized, newcomer and Indigenous communities in Winnipeg, and those who were born here to immigrant parents often find systems like policing and the courts system to be "distant, ineffective, or even unsafe," SPCW said. Writers Morton and Fast said there was a widely-held belief among the youth that "police have more unchecked power than most people can imagine," which makes the prospect of changing that system seem "distant or unrealistic." Those issues are leading to the continued overrepresentation of racialized persons and groups in the criminal justice system, including immigrant and Indigenous communities, according to the report. The manual was released after a three-year, three-phase project that began in 2021, launched after several fatal police encounters in Manitoba. A 2020 analysis by CBC News found that most fatal police encounters involved Indigenous people. The goals of the project did change over time, as SPCW says originally they were hoping to improve trust between Indigenous, Black, and racialized newcomer communities and the Winnipeg Police Service through a 'Community Safety and Inclusion Office' or 'Hub.' Due to "deep divisions and concerns about policing," however, SPCW says the project pivoted to focus on understanding how racialized newcomers and specifically newcomer youth perceive safety, trust, and justice reform in Winnipeg. The study also looks at questions about if more police on the streets would improve safety or cause more harm, and if trust can even be built between communities and the police, or if the relationship is permanently "broken." The document also highlights "systemic shortcomings" in addressing newcomer safety and justice, including overlooking newcomer diversity, fragmented care, superficial accountability, uneven data practices, and fractured solidarity. "There's a need for standardized evaluation, culturally adapted legal literacy, 24/7 civilian-led crisis response, and peer-led youth programs," the report states. The groups said the report comes with what they are calling several "suggestions or more-than-recommendations," rather than traditional recommendations to avoid placing an "unfair burden on participants to solve systemic problems." Restorative justice is defined by the Government of Canada as "an approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate about and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime." SPCW said they believe a more restorative approach would lead to less racialized people being charged with crimes and incarcerated in Winnipeg, and said they will continue to promote strategies and recommendations to promote the safety and well-being of racialized newcomers and newcomer youth in our city. "Some of the most meaningful forms of harm reduction come not from surveillance or intervention … but from how public space is cared for. Fixing deep-seated problems shouldn't have to stop us from making things a little bit better now," Morton and Fast wrote.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Immigrants looking for positive change to policing in Winnipeg
Members of Winnipeg's immigrant community are frustrated with the lack of action in addressing safety concerns — such as police racial profiling — and want more culturally relevant justice systems, researchers said at an event Saturday. Immigration Partnership Winnipeg, a non-profit that helps connect newcomers and refugees with community resources, hosted a panel Saturday with three researchers who spent the last five years interviewing people from multiple newcomer communities in the city — Sudanese, Nepali, Filipino, Afghan, Chinese, Ukrainian, Colombian, Southeast Asian, African, and others — about their experiences. Their report, funded by the Winnipeg Foundation and Immigration Partnership Winnipeg, will be released next week. 'They don't police people because of what you do. Most of the policing is because of how you look.'–David Mabior Atem '(Community) leaders were saying, 'We don't feel comfortable actually saying to the community to trust the police,' because things just keep on escalating and things are getting worse,' said Darrien Morton, a PhD student from the University of Manitoba and one of the lead researchers. 'Safety sometimes moves into the background, even for the young people (who) have experienced police violence and experienced racial profiling. For them, even this just becomes a way of daily life.' David Mabior Atem, another researcher at the event, said over-policing is a major issue affecting immigrant communities. 'They don't police people because of what you do. Most of the policing is because of how you look,' he said. 'Most of the youth from racialized communities have said this across the board that they are being targeted.' Matthew, an attendee at the meeting, told the audience he dresses in expensive-looking business clothing so police won't racially profile him. 'The reason I dress up like this is so then I don't die. It's so then I don't get reduced my skin colour,' he said. 'When I'm dressed up like this, I'm seen more responsible and professional. But when I dress in my track suit, I'm another thug.' Atem said one possible solution would be to include immigrant communities in restorative justice strategies. For example, police could involve community leadership in responses to non-criminal calls to provide cultural context. 'Some of the things that go to court, that can be done by the communities because that's how they used to resolve their problem back home. People sit and talk and address it at a community level,' he said. Attendees discussed the fatal police shooting of 19-year-old Afolabi Stephen Opaso in 2023. Police responding to a mental-health call about Opaso, a Nigerian student studying economics at the University of Manitoba, found him wielding two knives, police said at the time. Officers told him to drop the knife three times before firing three shots, according to an audio recording previously reviewed by the Free Press. Reuben Garang, director of Immigration Partnership Winnipeg, said having people at the scene who were knowledgeable about the Opaso's cultural background might have helped de-escalate the situation. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. 'When people are experiencing a mental health episode, and interacting with the police, there's fear on both sides. But if there are cultural groups that are involved in this, they also come with different understanding,' he said. Garang said he has de-escalated similar situations. In one case, he said a man who had mental health issues was surrounded by police. He approached the police officers and asked if he could talk with the man and managed to defuse the crisis. 'Imagine if I had not intervened in that situation. It could've ended in that person being killed,' he said. Morton said community members feel reports are repeatedly released with recommendations for change, but result in no action and make little difference. But Garang is optimistic the forthcoming report will help generate a conversation with police and other communities so positive change can happen.
CBC
a day ago
- Politics
- CBC
Community groups push restorative justice for racialized Winnipeggers
Community groups in Winnipeg are pushing for a more restorative approach to policing and prosecuting racialized communities in Winnipeg. An event on Saturday organized by the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg (SPCW) and other community groups saw the release of a new report and manual that looks to highlight "the lived realities of safety, trust, and community belonging for racialized and newcomer youth in Winnipeg." The "Community Solutions for Safety for Racialized Newcomer Youth in Winnipeg," report, published this month by the Immigration Partnership Winnipeg, collected first-hand accounts from 76 youth between the ages of 13 and 35. The youth came from diverse immigrant, ethnocultural, educational, gendered and socioeconomic backgrounds, each having unique lived experiences and views on safety in the city, including the local police force and justice system. Report authors Darrien Morton and Matt Fast found that some youth wanted more police protection while others wanted officers to stay away – and some didn't want to talk about police at all. Meanwhile, community leaders described their exhaustion and frustration with "performative police engagement." "What communities asked for, more than anything, was accountability. A safe presence. Someone to turn to. And what's even better, adequate resources," Morton and Fast wrote. The report shows that racialized, newcomer and Indigenous communities in Winnipeg, and those who were born here to immigrant parents often find systems like policing and the courts system to be "distant, ineffective, or even unsafe," SPCW said. Writers Morton and Fast said there was a widely-held belief among the youth that "police have more unchecked power than most people can imagine," which makes the prospect of changing that system seem "distant or unrealistic." Those issues are leading to the continued overrepresentation of racialized persons and groups in the criminal justice system, including immigrant and Indigenous communities, according to the report. The manual was released after a three-year, three-phase project that began in 2021, launched after several fatal police encounters in Manitoba. A 2020 analysis by CBC News found that most fatal police encounters involved Indigenous people. The goals of the project did change over time, as SPCW says originally they were hoping to improve trust between Indigenous, Black, and racialized newcomer communities and the Winnipeg Police Service through a 'Community Safety and Inclusion Office' or 'Hub.' Due to "deep divisions and concerns about policing," however, SPCW says the project pivoted to focus on understanding how racialized newcomers and specifically newcomer youth perceive safety, trust, and justice reform in Winnipeg. The study also looks at questions about if more police on the streets would improve safety or cause more harm, and if trust can even be built between communities and the police, or if the relationship is permanently "broken." The document also highlights "systemic shortcomings" in addressing newcomer safety and justice, including overlooking newcomer diversity, fragmented care, superficial accountability, uneven data practices, and fractured solidarity. "There's a need for standardized evaluation, culturally adapted legal literacy, 24/7 civilian-led crisis response, and peer-led youth programs," the report states. The groups said the report comes with what they are calling several "suggestions or more-than-recommendations," rather than traditional recommendations to avoid placing an "unfair burden on participants to solve systemic problems." Restorative justice is defined by the Government of Canada as "an approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate about and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime." SPCW said they believe a more restorative approach would lead to less racialized people being charged with crimes and incarcerated in Winnipeg, and said they will continue to promote strategies and recommendations to promote the safety and well-being of racialized newcomers and newcomer youth in our city. "Some of the most meaningful forms of harm reduction come not from surveillance or intervention … but from how public space is cared for. Fixing deep-seated problems shouldn't have to stop us from making things a little bit better now," Morton and Fast wrote.
