B.C. human rights inquiry to 'quantify' police use of force in bid to tackle systemic discrimination

British Columbia's human rights commissionerhas launched an inquiry into police use of force against people who are racialized or dealing with mental health issues.

Kasari Govender saidin a statement the inquiry comes as a result of a 2021 study by the commissioner's office showing a "disturbing pattern of discrimination in policing in the province."

Govender says while no comprehensive data exists on the severity of the problem, available information suggests police use force "more frequently and with greater severity" against these two groups.

The inquiry is aimed at "quantifying" police use of force in these instances, and Govender says it aims to make recommendations to address systemic discrimination.

"Systemic discrimination erodes the foundation of trust between communities and law enforcement, jeopardizing the safety of all residents," Govender wrote in a statement.

The commissioner's November 2021 report analyzing data from fiveB.C. police jurisdictions found Indigenous, Black and West Asian people were all over-represented in arrests and chargeable incidents.

The report also found that police interact more frequently with people dealing with mental health issues, which in turn has a "greater impact" on racialized individuals.

In one example, the report says data provided by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) from 2011 to 2020 showed Indigenous people were over 11 times more likely to be arrested than their representation in the general population would predict.

The analysis found that while Indigenous men represented 1.1 per cent of the city's population, they were involved in 19 per cent of the department's arrests.

At the time, VPDSgt. Steve Addison said in a statement that police recognize "historical inequalities have led to over-representation of racialized people in the criminal justice system."

The department changed its policies on street checks last year in response to concerns that people of colour were over-represented in the stops, and the new policy has "significantly reduced the number of checks that occur,"he said.

Officers receive anti-bias training throughout their careers, headded.