RNC mum as advocates release final report on police reform in N.L.
First Voice makes 26 recommendations, including creation of civilian oversight board
An advocacy group in St. John's handed their final report on police oversight in Newfoundland and Labrador to the justice minister on Tuesday, after over a year of research into how the province could overhaul policing and prevent misconduct and alleged abuse among officers.
Conspicuously absent from the presentation, however, was anyone representing the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary — about which much of the report was written.
"We invited the RNC to provide feedback on the draft report.… We did that by both e-mail and by postal letter," Justin Campbell, a program manager with the First Voice Urban Indigenous Coalition, said Tuesday morning.
"We were disappointed not to have received a response."
The First Voice report contains 26 recommendations to the provincial government. Chief among them is the creation of a civilian police oversight board that would create policy on use of force, training and recruitment, plus independently handle complaints from the public.
The final version of that report was released this week, three months after the group invited community members to provide feedback on a draft version that outlined several recent allegations of police misconduct across the province, including sexual assault.
Stacey Howse, executive director of coalition member First Light, an Indigenous advocacy group, nodded to a flood of accusations against RNC officers that emerged last summer as one of the catalysts for the report.
"I don't think I need to remind everyone here that there are more than 12 outstanding allegations of sexual assault made … against police, made against on-duty RNC officers, and that existing oversight mechanisms have proved utterly incapable of addressing those allegations," Howse said.
Justice Minister John Hogan wouldn't commit to any of the 26 recommendations Tuesday, nor give a timeline of when government would decide whether to implement them, saying he intended to look closely at the report before making any decisions and had been in conversation with First Voice for the last year and a half.
He also wouldn't go so far as to call the current oversight mechanisms "broken."
"There's always room to look at improvements in the system," Hogan said.
Helen Conway Ottenheimer, justice critic for the PC Party, said the Tories would push for the First Voice recommendations in the House of Assembly.
"We know that the existing oversight mechanisms that exist [for] our police forces are not working," she said.
"For me, the first recommendation that I think has to have priority is the recommendation with respect to a civilian-led police oversight body," said Conway Ottenheimer.
"That is critical, that needs to be acted upon immediately. And the reason it must be is if we are to restore faith, confidence and trust in our police force, that is a measure that will begin that process."
'Racist behaviours' rampant in N.L. forces, exec says
Howse described feedback she'd heard over the years from people complaining of systemic racism from Newfoundland and Labrador police officers, saying they felt they were a low priority and culturally disrespected.
"We have consistently heard stories from members of our community in St. John's that they feel overpoliced and yet underprotected by the RNC," Howse said.
"In recent years there have been assertions from various police agencies that systemic racism does not exist within policing. This demonstrates either a complete misunderstanding of systemic racism or a complete denial of the issues and silencing of communities who say otherwise. It is unclear which is worse."
Howse said a survey from the Assembly of First Nations earlier this year revealed a "wide range of racist behaviours" from members of the RNC and RCMP, including the confiscation of sacred items such as eagle feathers, physical intimidation and "openly mocking cultural traditions."
Marjorie Muise, an elder who recited a prayer after the group handed its report to Hogan, told CBC News she'd had similar encounters of her own.
"When you come from poverty or if you're Indigenous, I feel you don't have the same rights as everybody else," Muise said.
She took strength, though, from seeing politicians at Tuesday's press conference. After a lifetime of waiting, she said, Muise felt as though she was finally being heard.
"People are afraid of change," she said.
"And I feel that some people just back away. Some people don't want to accept that there is a problem."