If we want greater trust in our police, let's open up the process of hiring chiefs

This column is an opinion by Alok Mukherjee, an academic, human rights advocate and former chair of the Toronto Police Services Board. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

Are Toronto's chief of police-designate, Myron Demkiw, and his Ottawa counterpart, Eric Stubbs, fit to hold the top jobs given their past history? Did the police services boards that chose them conduct adequate background checks? Is a too-secretive hiring process to blame for these decisions? These questions have been raised by members of queer and Black communities of the two cities.

Myron Demkiw became chief after a long career with the Toronto Police Service. He was praised for his involvement in the efforts to end racially discriminatory police stops and his support for Black officers. However, soon after his appointment, it came out that in September 2000, he had participated in the infamous police raid on a women's bathhouse in downtown Toronto, the Pussy Palace, and other similar raids that year.

In an open letter to the board, Chanelle Gallant and J. P. Hornick, two women who were present in Pussy Palace, questioned what message it was sending the city's "historically over-policed communities."

Ottawa's chief-designate Eric Stubbs was hired externally. His past, as an assistant commissioner of the RCMP in British Columbia, pertains to his role in enforcing court injunctions against resource-related blockades in northern B.C.'s Wet'suwet'en traditional territory using paramilitary tactics. According to the Ottawa Police Services Board, Stubbs led the RCMP's response to "many high-profile protests related to the resource sector." Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, criticized Stubbs for not taking First Nations concerns seriously and only going through the motions during meetings.

Trust already very low

Stubbs's role with the RCMP led Robin Browne, a co-lead with Ottawa's 613-819 Black Hub, a grassroots advocacy group, to express serious concern about the impact of Stubbs's B.C. history, and his secretive and rushed hiring by the police services board, on public trust — already very low, especially among Black and other racialized and marginalized groups.

These controversies raise pertinent questions about the way police chiefs are hired in most parts of Canada.

Most police boards or commissions conduct some form of community consultation at the start of a hiring process. Using the information as they see fit, they determine the criteria the successful candidate should meet. They retain a search firm to advertise and recruit potential applicants. Members of the board or commission shortlist those they wish to interview — and do so in strict secrecy.

This time, however, Toronto involved members of the board's anti-racism and mental health advisory committees in the early stages of its process. Thunder Bay, in the midst of its search for a chief currently, has similarly involved its newly formed Governance Committee. But board members make the final decision and the process remains secret.

For internal applicants, the serving chief provides background reports. The search firm does background checks for external applicants.

Rigorous background checks needed

As the controversies surrounding the Demkiw and Stubbs appointments suggest, there is need for a far more rigorous background check. With the volume of information available on the internet, there is no reason an in-depth search of media reports and social media posts could not be done. It would be a sound practice to do so.

There is also no reason why the final selection could not be more open. The usual explanation — protection of privacy — does not hold water in the case of a public figure who will exercise enormous power over the community. Nor would opening up the process be unprecedented.

Universities require shortlisted candidates to present their research in public sessions to faculty members and students interested in their work. Once, when being considered for a senior position at a university, I was required to meet with representatives of the various campus organizations and the president's community advisory committee on human rights as well as to deliver a public presentation.

Why should a police board or commission not have a similar requirement? At least the finalists from the short list should have to present their background, vision and plans for community safety in a public session, with opportunity for those interested to ask questions and provide feedback.

In our diverse communities with different experiences of policing and in an era when there is increasing demand for transparency, such changes can only contribute to greater trust in policing.

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