Latest news with #policeAccountability
The Herald
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
Ramaphosa must act on police scandal: parliamentary portfolio committee chair Ian Cameron
Cameron welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa's pledge to address the issue but urged urgent action on his return from Brazil. 'Accountability is necessary and people deserve to know and feel that the SA Police Service is made of men and women who are ready to serve in the interest of the country and not for selfish reasons,' Cameron said. The committee is demanding urgent lifestyle and skills audits of senior police management and has called for a parliamentary debate on police integrity and its impact on crime-fighting efforts. It has written to the speaker to summon key figures to give account. 'Those dockets [that Mkhwanazi mentioned] or the process regarding them should be frozen until an independent inquiry can be done. I think it is a massive risk to just leave them in the system after what we heard yesterday [Sunday]' Cameron said.
ABC News
03-07-2025
- ABC News
Sister of Indigenous woman shot by WA Police welcomes coroner's findings
The sister of an Indigenous woman who was shot dead by police in regional Western Australia has welcomed a coroner's finding that the death was preventable. WARNING: The following story contains references to suicidal ideation and contains the image of an Indigenous person who has died. The woman, known as JC for cultural reasons, was shot by then-First Class Constable Brent Wyndham in Geraldton in September 2019. Coroner Ros Fogliani found the death of the 29-year-old Yamatji woman could have been prevented. JC's sister, Bernadette Clarke, thanked the coroner and said the inquest had provided some comfort to the family. "The coroner was our only voice when we could no longer use our voices," Ms Clarke said. But the findings come as the family mourns the death of JC's foster mother, who passed away in May. LJ was buried two weeks ago and Ms Clarke wished she been able to witness the findings. "That's what hurts," Ms Clarke said. "Knowing that you got all this information and old girl's not here to see it herself, you know — it played a big impact on me knowing that old girl was gone and she can't have her say too." Ms Clarke said the family welcomed the adverse findings against Mr Wyndham, who has resigned from WA Police. He was charged with JC's murder but acquitted after a landmark trial in 2021. "I find that the coroner has acknowledged [Mr Wyndham's] wrongs," Ms Clarke said. She also backed calls for police to undergo improved cultural awareness training. "You've got to be trained up in a way where you've got to recognise that you're living in an Aboriginal community or country," Ms Clarke said. Gerry Georgatos from the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project said Ms Fogliani's findings focused too heavily on JC's background. "There should have been a greater focus on the officer and this officer's actions," he said. He said WA Police needed to institute better screening to ensure officers are fit for duty. "Cultural training is a given — it must happen," Mr Georgatos said. "All the cultural training wouldn't have actually stopped this police officer doing what he did in my view." The coroner made a total of nine recommendations, including collaboratively designed cultural awareness training that should be delivered by Indigenous people on a regular basis. Police declined to be interviewed in response to the findings, but said in a statement that "a number of the recommendations" made by the coroner had already been implemented. "The Western Australia Police Force is always striving to better serve our community and we will carefully consider the coroner's findings," the statement said.
CBC
27-06-2025
- 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.
ABC News
30-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
NT Police reject call for independent investigation death in custody
Samantha Donovan: Well back to Australia now and in the Northern Territory, police have ruled out an independent investigation of the death of an Indigenous man in their custody this week. 24-year-old Kumunjai White was disabled and in state care. He died after being arrested in an Alice Springs supermarket for suspected theft. His family held a vigil there today and they're adamant his death must be investigated by someone other than the NT police. Myles Houlbrook-Walk reports. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: In the same aisles of the supermarket where Kumunjai White died, his family today have held a vigil mourning the loss of the 24-year-old Waltbury man. Ned Hargraves: No more. No more! We are saying enough is enough! Hear our words. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: His grandfather, Ned Hargrave, spoke of sorrow for his family and the remote Aboriginal community of Yundamoo in Central Australia where Kumunjai White was from before moving to supported accommodation for his disabilities in Alice Springs. Earlier this week, several senior Waltbury leaders had called for an independent investigation. Ned Hargraves: We want justice for my jaja, my grandson. I'm sure there is another way, another better way of dealing with things, dealing with people. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Robin Japanagka Granites called for those in the supermarket when Kumunjai White died to come forward to assist the investigation. Robin Japanagka Granites: When we get everyone together, we need everyone to tell us what had happened. The truth will tell us and get us all back to normal. And in a normal way, we will talk to each other and tell us what can we do about it. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: There's been limited detail so far about the nature of the arrest. Northern Territory Police have said the young Waltbury man was placing items down the front of his clothes at the Cole's supermarket in Alice Springs when he was confronted by security guards. Two police officers in plain clothes were in the supermarket at the time and restrained the man. One person who says they were an eyewitness and asked to remain anonymous told the ABC they heard a lot of shouting and a lot of commotion. Opinion: What it was, I can't be sure, but yeah, it looked pretty violent. And then, yeah, they slammed into the ground. There's just like lots of shouting. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: As for calls for an independent investigation, they were today rejected by Police Commissioner Martin Dole, who in a statement confirmed he'd spoken to both officers. He extended sincere condolences to the family, friends and community of the man who died. He contacted both officers directly involved in the incident on Tuesday evening and understood the high level of public interest in the matter. However, said he would respectfully reject calls for the investigation to be handed to an external body. The statement went on to say. Martin Dole: This incident is being investigated by the major crime division which operates under strict protocols and with full transparency. The investigation will also be independently reviewed by the NT coroner who has broad powers to examine all aspects of the incident and make findings without interference. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Thalia Anthony is a professor of law at the University of Technology, Sydney. Thalia Anthony: There are concerns in the community about police investigating police. We know for Aboriginal people that has not given them a sense of justice or accountability. And I think the only way to change this record is to do something different. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: She says the nature of the man's arrest, given his disability, needs to be closely examined. Thalia Anthony: Given that he was already under state care, I think it's going to be asked by the coroner, why did he get to this situation where he was in a supermarket allegedly hiding food? And then that triggered not only the security officer to get involved, but also the police to get involved. Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Thalia Anthony pointed to the Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody and its findings regarding the importance of independent oversight of police. Thalia Anthony: The 1991 Royal Commission to Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was concerned with reinvestigating 99 Aboriginal deaths in custody because of the flawed nature of police investigating police. And so one of their most strident recommendations was that within 48 hours, an officer attached to the coroner should investigate the root cause of a death in custody. And the imminence of this investigation was essential. Samantha Donovan: Law Professor Thalia Anthony from the University of Technology Houlbrook-Walk, the reporter.
Washington Post
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Justice Dept. to drop police reform deals with Minneapolis, Louisville
The Justice Department said Wednesday that it plans to drop police-accountability agreements with Minneapolis and Louisville, abandoning the Biden administration's attempt to reshape law enforcement in cities where high-profile killings by officers ignited widespread outrage. Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department's civil rights division, also said the government would close Biden-era investigations that found multiple other local police departments — including in Phoenix, Memphis and Oklahoma City — violated the Constitution.
