Local

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

'Starlight' drives by police no myth?

Study suggests 'urban lore' actually true

By: Carol Sanders

Posted: 10/19/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Turns out getting left by police on the outskirts of town, verbally abused, and cornered because they "fit the description" might not be aboriginal "urban lore," two researchers say.

The head of the sociology department at the University of Manitoba and the Southern Chiefs Organization put a call out to urban aboriginals to come forward with their first-hand experiences with police.

Few complaints proceed

Nearly half of all complaints against police in the province were dismissed or withdrawn by the complainant.

43 per cent were dismissed by commissioner for lack of evidence.

3 per cent were dismissed because they were outside the scope of the act.

2 per cent were ruled vexatious or frivolous.

2 per cent received a formal hearing before a provincial court judge.

1 per cent was resolved formally.

The most common complaint is unnecessary or excessive force, followed by using oppressive or abusive conduct or language.

-- Source: LERA 2008 Annual Report

"We hoped maybe 24 people would come forward," said Prof. Elizabeth Comack. "We ended up interviewing 76 people," she told a crowd at the Urban Circle Training Centre on Selkirk Avenue on Monday.

"It was so overwhelming, we had to stop," she told the diverse audience of mainly women at the event that is part of a lunchtime speaker series.

The idea for the study came about in 2006 when former police chief Jack Ewatski suggested to Comack that urban aboriginals' concerns about police may just be "urban lore". Comack, who'd interviewed prisoners in Headingley over the years and heard similar concerns, decided to find out for herself.

Comack and the Southern Chiefs' justice director Nahanni Fontaine advertised on the native radio station NCI and put up posters calling for inner-city aboriginal people to come forward.

The study began in 2008. Comack said their report isn't finished yet but certain themes and patterns emerge from the subjects' detailed encounters with police, Comack said.

"You fit the description" is the common refrain when aboriginal men ask police why they're being stopped. Wearing a white T-shirt and jeans and having long hair isn't a crime but it's enough to get a man in trouble with police if he fits a description that's common in the inner city, they heard.

Formal complaints against police in Winnipeg have steadily decreased from 228 in 2004 to 138 in 2008, according to the latest Law Enforcement Review Agency report available.

"The complaints process is not very arduous," said Mike Sutherland, president of the Winnipeg Police Association.

Sutherland wouldn't comment on the "urban lore" study until he sees a finished copy. "When it's anecdotal, it's really difficult to make any assessment based on that," he said.

Comack said aboriginal women also stepped forward with their stories.

"Women can't walk down the street without police thinking they're sex-trade workers," she said, paraphrasing a common complaint. One teen said she stopped at a payphone by the Slaw Rebchuk Bridge to call her dad for a ride and police stopped her for prostitution.

Men in their 40s told about "starlight" drives when, as teens, they were picked up by police and driven to Birds Hill or the Perimeter Highway and Pipeline Road on the edge of the city and forced to walk home with no shoes or jackets. "Sometimes I still feel like crying," one man told them. A women in her 30s said it happened to her in December 2008. She thought police were taking her to the Main Street Project but ended up on the outskirts of town.

"They're more difficult to dismiss as 'urban lore' when they're lined up side by side," said Comack. Fontaine urged people to not ignore incidents and to file official complaints with LERA.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 19, 2010 A6

(You must be logged in to post your reaction)

Your reaction?

More Local

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010; View the changes. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.