WRPS to review 'intelligence notes' after report shows Black people disproportionately documented by police

The Waterloo Region Police Service plans to hire two academics to study how officers gather information, after it was revealed that people perceived as Black make up a disproportionate share of officers' "intelligence notes."

Intelligence notes are different from street checks, which have been largely phased out in recent years.

Whereas a street check generally involves an officer stopping a person to ask for their ID or identifying information, an intelligence note can include the documentation of an officer's observations, details noted during an arrest, or information gleaned from a third-party source.

Since the beginning of 2018, white people have been the subject of 73 per cent of police intelligence notes and Black people have made up about 11 per cent of these notes, according to a report that went before the police services board Wednesday.

The latest census shows that about 78 per cent of the regional population are white, while about 3 per cent are Black. 

"We continue to see individuals who are of Black race are over-represented in the data," Chief Bryan Larkin said.

"We recognize that there is further work to be done to assert, why is this occurring, what are the underlying root causes of the data, as we move forward."

The report noted that race was recorded based on an officer's perception, and may not always be consistent.  

An analysis of the racial disproportion of police intelligence notes was first reported by the Waterloo Region Record last month.  

'A lot to be done here'

The report also noted that about 30 per cent of people who were recorded in intelligence notes didn't have a permanent residence. This data point, and other social determinants of health, will also be considered in the review, Larkin said.

"Are we taking action as a police service where we're potentially criminalizing something that's better dealt with in the social service sector?" Larkin said.

"There's a lot of work to be done here."

Going forward, Larkin said the service also plans to host community meetings with "Black, Indigenous and people of colour representatives from across the region."

Teneile Warren, who is part of the advisory committee for the African, Caribbean and Black Network of Waterloo Region, tuned in to the meeting to watch the presentation on intelligence notes.

Warren said she wants the police service and the board to move beyond data collection and analysis, and to start taking stronger action.

'Avoiding' the issue

"They keep referencing these community meetings that they're going to have, but I've yet to see how these community meetings are going to impact carding and intelligence notes," said Warren.

"It just all seems to be smokescreens and excuses to avoid the actual issue: that there is systemic bias in policing, that there is racism in policing, and that Black people ... are more likely to be stopped than white people."

As for the review itself, Warren said she hopes to see heightened transparency, and an assurance that the academics involved will have independence over their work.

"It needs to be independently done," said Warren.

"I would expect public updates, I would like to see [requests for proposals] that are released publicly, so that people can apply that really know that police at least made some effort to not cherry pick."

A definite timeline for the review has not been set, but Larkin is expected to provide an update at the next police services meeting Oct. 14. 

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of.