Tensions run high at town hall on policing Black communities in wake of 19-year-old's death

Winnipeg residents put the city's chief police officer in the hot seat during a discussion on policing Black communities that sometimes became heated, with the recent death of a young Nigerian student looming over the talks.

The town hall, called Policing Black Manitobans, was held in the wake of 19-year-old Afolabi Stephen Opaso's death. Opaso, a University of Manitoba student, was shot by police on Dec. 31 after officers responded to a well-being call at an apartment building.

About 70 people showed up Sunday afternoon and packed the African Communities of Manitoba's offices.

Jean-René Dominique Kwilu, who represents Opaso's family, moderated the town hall. He said he understands people's frustration.

"There's definitely a fracture within the community," Kwilu told CBC. "With the incident, other incidents in general that happen, there's a lot of frustration, anger and misunderstanding."

City police Chief Danny Smyth and former chief Devon Clunis answered questions about how the police system could be reformed to better serve residents in what was often a tense exchange of ideas.

People at the town hall pointed out Opaso wasn't the only person killed in a police-related incident recently. So far this year, Manitoba's Independent Investigations Unit has launched two other investigations into police-related deaths. Opaso's death is being investigated by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.

Smyth said early on he couldn't address any specifics related to the case.

"It gets frustrating for someone like me, because I don't actually know what happened," he said. "I'm not the one investigating and I don't get briefed on the investigation as it's ongoing."

Police said Opaso was armed with two knives when he was shot. People who knew him said he was dealing with mental health issues.

Smyth said he wants to expand a pilot pairing clinicians with plainclothes officers to respond to mental crises, but with the shortages affecting the health-care systems, there aren't enough clinicians available.

'This city can do better'

"Regardless if someone has mental health or regardless if they're selling drugs, if we see on the news that one of us was killed, I'm going to assume what makes me special not to be killed?" Dalili Lowka said during the town hall.

"You guys don't put us in a position where we stop assuming you're out to get us.... This city can do better."

Tunji Alao, who volunteers with the WPS as a neighbourhood watch captain, said he's often the first point of call whenever a friend has issues with police, and he said he hears cases of bias all the time.

"I'm not saying that bad things don't happen," Clunis said. "But I don't think we as Black people have to walk through the city with this amazing amount of fear of the police, consistently telling your child that they should be afraid they're going to be stopped and shot."

Many people called on WPS to recruit more officers of different backgrounds. Some asked for quotas.

Smyth said Winnipeg's police force has taken strides to represent the city's diversity in its ranks, and that the only demographic they're struggling with is women.

The chief said quotas would have to be negotiated with the police union, who would likely challenge them.

"I don't support the word 'quotas' in almost any language that I use," he told CBC. "I do support that we try to hire reflective of the community."

The chief said he's confident the issue of body cameras — which he's endorsed — will be back on the table in the city as police across the country continue to adopt them.

Council rejected a proposal to increase WPS's budget to buy the cameras in 2021, amid cost concerns. The chair of Winnipeg's police board recently urged the city to reconsider the cameras in the wake of a series of deaths, including Opaso's.

'Vague' answers

Some people who attended the town hall said after they didn't get the answers they wanted.

"They were not concrete enough," Alao said. "Most of the answers we got were just vague."

"We come from countries where we ran away from police," said Lowka, who's Congolese. "When we come here, the police we'll see in the movies ... they respect the law. I know that that's what we expect."

Dola Akintan said she took the floor on behalf of the Black student community at the University of Manitoba. She said she and Opaso shared friends, and that it's been hard to process the death.

"We're the same age. We're in the same university," Akintan told CBC.

"In my mind, it's like, that could have been me. And who's to say that can't be me or somebody else in the future?"

Kwilu said Opaso's mother and one of his sisters recently got their visas approved to come to Canada from Nigeria to make the funeral arrangements for the 19-year-old.

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. You can read more stories here.