Chief slams school division for hiring ‘police abolitionist’ to review program

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Winnipeg’s police chief has criticized a city school division for its “curious choice” to hire a researcher who had been highly critical of police to conduct a report into its police-in-schools program.

“He delivered exactly the kind of report one might expect from a police abolitionist,” Danny Smyth wrote about the report by Fadi Ennab, done for the Louis Riel School Division. The chief’s comments were contained in an online post on Substack that was released Tuesday.

The school division released a redacted version of Ennab’s report last week after 18 months of refusing to do so. The report had prompted its trustees to axe the police-in-schools program in 2021.

“At best, the (school resource officer) program is ineffective in its stated goals of ‘building relationships’ and ‘promoting safety and education,’” wrote Ennab, a community researcher and University of Winnipeg instructor, in the August 2021 report he submitted to the division.

“At worst, the program negatively impacts the school space by making many students and parents feel unsafe and targeted.”

The Winnipeg School Division and the provincial government partnered with police and began a pilot program in 2002, before other city divisions followed suit in subsequent years. Officers, who are in uniform and are armed, are stationed in schools. They hold presentations on bullying and gang violence, consult with students and parents, check on truants, and conduct threat assessments.

In his post, Smyth questioned the decision to contract Ennab, who he described as someone with “outspoken anti-police views.”

The post also included background on the history of the program and its structure.

“I think it’s pretty clear it’s coming from a position that’s anti-police, it had some assumptions that all we do is cause harm. So, that’s his starting point, then he teases out a lot of commentary from a very small percentage of people that is hardly representative of the school division,” Smyth told the Free Press in an interview.

“I have a problem with that. He’s free to say whatever he wants from his perspective, but he’s tied his lot pretty closely with police abolitionists.”

The 55-page report was based on 3,117 surveys and 30 one-on-one interviews with students, parents and school staff.

About three-quarters of interviewees, including all Black and Indigenous students, parents and teachers, indicated they felt the program had a negative impact on equity-seeking groups. Twenty-nine per cent of respondents supported police involvement.

Smyth noted the program had been reviewed multiple times in the past.

“I didn’t remember it ever becoming newsworthy before,” Smyth said, adding that the police service was asked to create the programs.

“(The school divisions) saw this as a way for the police to have more exposure in the community and establish stronger relationships.”

Ennab could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca