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CBC
11 hours ago
- Politics
- CBC
Hamilton police use of force remains disproportionate with Black and Middle Eastern people, data shows
Social Sharing Black and Middle Eastern people in Hamilton continue to be overrepresented in use-of-force incidents recorded by the Ontario city's police service. The statistics, which were submitted to the police board on Thursday, mark the fifth straight year that Black individuals are disproportionately represented. The inclusion of race-based data started being published in 2020 as part of an Ontario government mandate, to expose any racial biases or stereotyping within police services. When force is used, police report the person's race based on their perception of their race. Kojo Damptey, a McMaster University sessional instructor and PhD student, and colleagues examine use-of-force data from across Ontario. In the case of Hamilton police, community members have been expressing concern about disproportionate use of force even before police have been publishing the data, said Damptey. "Every year, the results are the same, but we never get any changes." Damptey spoke to CBC Hamilton following a session last week at the David Braley Centre downtown, but before the police board meeting Thursday. At the session June 17, Staff Sgt. Ryan Hashimoto acknowledged the history of community concerns. "These patterns are not new and neither are the calls for action." In 2023, he said, "it became increasingly clear that reporting data wasn't enough. We needed to do more with what it was that we were learning." Hashimoto pointed to the work of the police's Community Advisory Panel as a step in the right direction. The 10-member panel formed in 2024 in an effort to promote equity and address systemic racism in policing. It makes non-binding recommendations to Hamilton police, and has reviewed police data and practices such as the use-of-force training given to officers CBC Hamilton asked police for examples of actions the service has taken as a result of learning from race-based data. In an email, spokesperson Jackie Penman said that once police have analyzed the data, they'll "engage with the community" before eventually creating recommendations. "When there's a problem, there should be a list of actions," Damptey said, adding recommendations alone — which police can choose not to implement — aren't good enough. Statistics based on officers' perceptions of race For this year's report, police measured racial disparities in use of force against two different benchmarks: population and enforcement. (Police say 1.5 is considered a significant disparity for both.) The population benchmark — based on how often a group shows up in use-of-force data, compared to how large that group is in the general population — is good at highlighting broad disparities, but also includes people who never come into contact with police, the service said. Individuals perceived by officers to be Black accounted for 16 per cent of use-of-force subjects in 2024 — with Black people making up five per cent of Hamilton's population, the disproportionality index for them is 3.2. For people who police perceived to be Middle Eastern, who make up four per cent of the city's population, the disparity index is 2. The enforcement benchmark compares the racial makeup of people involved in use-of-force incidents to those who were arrested or apprehended by police. By that metric, the disparity index for people perceived to be Black is 1.2; for people perceived to be Middle Eastern, it's 1.7. Police said people perceived to be East and Southeast Asian had a disproportionality index of 3.9 using this method, but the sample size was small, and "nearly half" the incidents occurred when police were involved in "warrant-focused enforcement projects," which "contributed to the elevated rates of force following police contact for this group," the report said. Overall, police said, the enforcement benchmark allows for a more precise comparison of treatment by police. On June 17, Natalie Stravens, co-chair of the Community Advisory Panel, spoke to the need for further analysis of use-of-force data. "At the end of the day, we don't know why, we don't know how. And there's no, 'What now?' that comes out of it." Panel member Juanita Parent cautioned that the data is based on officers' perceptions of subjects' races, which is an imperfect measure. For example, she said, people in her Indigenous community are often assumed to be white and may be logged as such, skewing Indigenous representation in the data. However, Parent said, it would not be "feasible" for officers to ask someone how they identify while also trying to de-escalate a situation. With grants from the University of Toronto, Damptey and his team at McMaster analyzed 2023 use-of-force data from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), and forces in Barrie, Brantford, Durham Region, Guelph, Halton Region, Hamilton, London, Niagara Region, Ottawa, Peel Region, Sault St. Marie, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Waterloo Region, Windsor and York Region. The team started publishing their findings in June and will continue through July. Consistently, Damptey has found Black, racialized and Indigenous communities overrepresented in use-of-force data, he said. For example, about 29 per cent of people the OPP used force against were Black or Indigenous. In Toronto, 33 per cent of individuals police used force against were Black males. "Tell me how … in all these cities, Black and racialized people are overrepresented," Damptey said. "That's what we call systemic racism." General use-of-force data shows rise in 2024 Hamilton's 2024 race-based use-of-force data was presented alongside the service's annual use-of-force report on June 17. The two used to be part of the same report, but were separated this year due to the "complexity" of the race-based data, Penman told CBC Hamilton in an email. There were 303 cases in which Hamilton police used force last year, the report found, a roughly 13 per cent increase compared to 265 in 2023. Overall, the rate of use-of-force incidents per 100,000 public interactions increased in 2024, from 0.12 per cent to 0.15 per cent, while the total number of use of public interactions declined year over year. The 303 incidents involved 455 people. "Altogether, this trend suggests that, although officers engaged in fewer interactions with the public compared to previous years, the proportion of those interactions that involved the use of force was higher," the report said. Police chief links more force to weapons calls Police largely attributed this to a 39 per cent increase in weapons-related calls, from 69 in 2023 to 96 in 2024. At the information session, police Chief Frank Bergen said 2024 saw "a huge spike in shootings" compared to 2023. The report said 310 use-of-force incidents, representing 68 per cent of cases, involved a subject that police perceived as armed. In 71 per cent of those cases, the perceived weapon was a gun. The report does not include whether subjects were or were not actually armed. In a letter to the police services board following the report's release, Lyndon George, director of the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre, requested that police collect and publish data specifying what, if any, weapons that subjects have when officers use force against them. "Without this level of detail, the public is unable to assess the proportionality and necessity of force used in each incident," said George. Trainer says police 'always' try to de-escalate Use of force encompasses a range of actions, which include drawing or pointing a firearm or taser, physically coming into contact with a subject or firing a weapon, the report said. It notes subjects were injured in 11 per cent of cases. "Every single police officer in every single situation we're called to is always trying to de-escalate the situation and bring about a resolution that keeps it from getting worse," Insp. Darren Murphy said at the June information session. In 81 per cent of cases, the report said, police used de-escalation tactics — such as talking to the subject, or creating distance between officers and subjects — before using force. Murphy, whose division oversees use-of-force training and who was a trainer himself, said every time an officer uses force, it's logged and reviewed several times, first by the police service and then by the province. Generally, he said, he expects officers to draw weapons if they think subjects are armed. WATCH | Over 100 rally to demand justice for Erixon Kabera after SIU cleared officers in his death: Over 100 people rally to demand justice for Erixon Kabera after SIU cleared officers who killed him 2 days ago Duration 3:41 There were eight times in 2024 when an officer fired a weapon, the report said. Of those, it noted, seven involved euthanizing injured animals. Though the report does not name him, Erixon Kabera was the person in the other incident, involving two officers who shot and killed him in his west Hamilton apartment building in November. The police watchdog report clearing the officers was released on June 6. According to Ontario's Special Investigations Unit, Kabera was holding a replica firearm resembling a semi-automatic pistol that he pointed at officers. After the June 17 presentation, Ameil Joseph, a social work professor at McMaster, told police it was disrespectful that Kabera's death was referenced on the same page as euthanizing animals. He also said community members should have been given the reports sooner to give them more time to read and formulate questions. "None of that feels like trust and respect," he said. On Thursday afternoon, the police board was scheduled to discuss the reports in more detail and hear delegations from several community members.
CBC
21-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Ontario Votes 2025: Hamilton Mountain
The historically NDP riding is an open race this time around The Hamilton Mountain riding is up for grabs after the Ontario NDP MPP representing the riding announced last fall she wouldn't seek re-election. Monique Taylor said she will instead run for MP in the next federal election, leaving the provincial seat open. Hamilton Mountain has been held by the NDP since 2011 and encompasses the southernmost urban part of the city. It runs from the Niagara Escarpment to Rymal Road and between Garth and West 5th Streets in the west and Mountain Brow Boulevard, Redhill Creek, Arbour Road and Anchor Road in the east. Over 115,000 people live in the riding. Some candidates are already well known in the community. NDP candidate Kojo Damptey is a civic leader, musician and scholar, who lost a contentious city councillor race in 2022 by 79 votes. The city's bylaw director Monica Ciriello is running for the Progressive Conservatives. She has overseen the creation of new bylaw programs to better protect tenants, as directed by council, but also came under fire for her department's handling of a 12-week-long water shutoff at an apartment building in 2023. Dawn Danko, former chair of the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board, is running for the Liberal Party. She led the board of trustees as students and staff navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. CBC Hamilton sent a survey to major party candidates, or their party representatives. Their responses, edited for length and clarity, are reflected below. Also running for MPP is Ejaz Butt as an Independent, Layla Marie-Angela Protopapa with the New Blue Party, Dan Preston with the None of the Above Direct Democracy Party and Bing Wong for the Ontario Party. Monica Ciriello, PC Monica Ciriello did not respond to CBC Hamilton's survey. Her campaign website says she's the director of municipal law and licensing at the City of Hamilton, "champion" for entrepreneurs and a lawyer. "Monica will stand up for and protect Hamilton workers, businesses and communities," the website says. "She is the representative Hamilton Mountain needs at this pivotal moment." Joshua Czerniga, Green A teacher, Joshua Czerniga, 42, was born and raised on the Hamilton Mountain. "This community is special and over the years, I've worked alongside my neighbours, listening to their struggles and learning what we truly need," he said. "We need a place where families can thrive, and a life that doesn't leave anyone behind." Affordable housing is top of mind for constituents, said Green. He'll work to build more affordable, energy-efficient housing and put in place rent control for all units with no exemptions. Kojo Damptey, NDP Kojo Damptey, 42, has worked at McMaster University's Office of Community Engagement as an acting senior manager, and is also a sessional instructor for the African and Black studies program, and a social work PhD student. "I am running to fight for Hamilton Mountain residents at Queen's Park to ensure seniors are supported, working families have trust in their provincial government, and to provide true public healthcare and education for all in Ontario," Damptey said. If elected, he will push for grocery rebates as well as investments in health care and education, including capping class sizes. Dawn Danko, Liberal Dawn Danko, 48, has worked as a public school board trustee, where she has been chair of the board, as a medical radiation technologist and has taught at the college level. "Voters are tired of Doug Ford's scandals and the radical and ineffective NDP, and know that I will work hard for our community, putting the needs of residents first," Danko said. In elected, she said her priorities will be to rebuild hospitals, connect residents to family doctors, get more housing built and invest in neighbourhood safety.
