Abstract
Police use of force in Canada has been unfair to black men and has been a prevalent issue facing the Canadian criminal justice system. Through analysis of secondary literature, this study employed a qualitative and quantitative methodology intending to examine factors that escalated the use of force against black males in Canada. Through the literature provided, there is evidence that new reforms and strategies need to be implemented to help address this issue. This study highlights the themes for the studies: racial bias in policing, gender norms in policing, data and databases in policing, the use of force and its implications, and different Perspectives and Debates. Strategies to mitigate escalated use of force include databases for accountability, openness, and transparency; mandatory training; fair and unbiased policing; reforms, etc. Implementing these techniques will help control and prevent the escalated use of force.
Introduction
In recent years, there has been a growing focus on the widespread issue of greater use of force by Canadian law enforcement against Black people. In recent years, there has been a growing focus on the widespread issue of greater use of force by Canadian law enforcement against Black people. Despite efforts to eliminate structural prejudices within policing, a severe worry persists over the disproportionate use of force, particularly when interacting with persons of African descent. The current research investigates the underlying systemic elements contributing to the escalation of force in these confrontations. Understanding these characteristics enables the research to offer complete strategies that may be applied to successfully attenuate and avoid such escalations, ensuring a fairer and just police environment in Canada. “Racialized groups, particularly Black and Indigenous people, are overrepresented in jails across Canada, particularly in Ontario. The consequences of deadly force errors in real life are fundamentally different from those of lethal force errors during recertification exams. Andersen et al. (2023) omitted to emphasize the most crucial difference: loss of life. Biassed cops may be more likely to shoot a Black individual due to racial preconceptions about their supernatural power, pain tolerance, criminal inclinations, and malevolent intent” (William et al.,2023).
“Over the past decade, policing in Canada and other jurisdictions has been increasingly in the spotlight due to reports of discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct in the workplace. More recently, the emphasis has been on incidents of excessive use of force in which people of the public have lost their lives or been gravely injured”. (Workman Stark, 2022). Several police departments have modified their misbehavior rules and practices, mandated required training, and set aggressive recruiting targets for female and minority officers (Workman Stark, 2022). However, these changes are unlikely to succeed until we better understand the contextual elements that lead to this type of wrongdoing. The research question, “To what extent do systemic factors contribute to the escalation of force by Canadian law enforcement against Black men, and what comprehensive measures can be devised to effectively mitigate and prevent such escalation, fostering a more equitable and just policing environment?”. The hypothesis is established to contribute to creating a more inclusive and equitable law enforcement paradigm in Canada. This study is vital to the proposal and emphasizes the need for evidence-based solutions to address the existing situation, as well as the significance of undertaking a complete and comprehensive inquiry into Canadian police officers’ use of force against Black males.
This research refers to a “rigorous exploration of systemic factors.” This study proposes an in-depth qualitative investigation, most likely using methodologies such as literature reviews, case studies, qualitative interviews (not in person), or focus groups, to understand better the historical and systemic factors that contribute to the use of force against Black males. This research is regarded as using a pragmatic approach, which implies an emphasis on practical, real-world solutions rather than theoretical or abstract thinking. Despite continued attempts to eliminate systemic biases in police, incidents of excessive force during contact with people of African ancestry continue, necessitating a thorough investigation into the underlying reasons for these discrepancies. The study aims to contribute to a thorough understanding of the problem by investigating the complicated web of systemic elements contributing to the escalation of force in these specific interactions.
Research Question
Literature concerning the use of force by law enforcement officers and policies that guide them to deliver their policing duties is readily available. However, in recent years, there has been an increase in cases of mistreatment of people of color by law enforcement officers in Canada. Thus, this study sought to answer an existing research gap: What factors contribute to the escalated use of force by Canadian Law enforcement officers against Black Men? To better explain the factors, this study aimed to explore the numerous aspects and complexity of this problem, emphasizing systemic elements that lead to using force and putting forth all-encompassing preventative and mitigating strategies. The study conducted a multifaceted range of topics like racial prejudice, the use of force, and relationships between the police and the community.
To better understand the systemic factors that answer the central research question regarding the use of force, three other questions were considered: What factors influence police behavior towards people of color? What measures should be implemented to control and mitigate the use of force by law enforcement officers? What behaviors of people impact the interpretation of law enforcement officers that then lead to the excessive use of force? The research used evidence from peer-reviewed articles concerning cases of police violence. Select themes were reviewed using critical analysis and thorough literature reviews, which provided an opportunity to understand that excessive use of force negatively impacted people of color and suggested measures to mitigate and control it. Furthermore, answering these research questions provided a better platform to understand better why there has been an escalated use of force and how black men living in Canada could live peacefully with law enforcement officers. The study also ensured an equitable, fair, and just policing environment.
Literature Review Methodology
This study appraised existing literature for its research. It conducted online searches through the Justice Institute of British Columbia’s (JIBC) online library database and other sources such as Google Scholar, books, journals, existing research papers, and peer-reviewed articles. Keywords utilized in this study to make the issue more relevant included: “use of force or excessive force or lethal force,” “Canada,” “Black men,” “police officers or law enforcement,” “systematic biases,” police brutality,” and “racial disparities,” “policing policies” etc. The selected scholarly articles were based on their relevance to the research question and based on inclusion and exclusion criteria.
The original investigation mainly focused on recent publications about the use of force by Canadian police against the black population. The study turned to peer-reviewed literature, which gathered information on the racial and ethnic inequalities in officer-involved shootings and measures to mitigate them. Research with significant implications had to be thorough to avoid any racial misunderstandings. Crucial topics like circumstances that led Canadian police to use excessive force against black men and how they affected the black community were used. The research also focused on what mitigation measures should be used to address this issue to treat everyone equally and fairly.
The research employed qualitative and quantitative research, which used interpreting the existing databases on reviewed academic journal articles, peer-reviewed articles, books, and library databases. Quantitative and qualitative data analyzed police records, reports, and legal documents about the racial use of force. With the main participants being the Canadian police department, black men, and law enforcement officers, statistical approaches were applied to analyze patterns and trends in quantitative data that led to the racially biased use of force.
Literature Review
Five were selected from reviews of existing literature. The reviews of existing literature were selected to answer the research question and fill the existing research gap. These themes either explain what has been discussed before or what needs to be done by future researchers. These themes were racial bias and policing, gender norms and policing, the use of force and its implications, data and databases in policing, and the different Perspectives and Debates.
Racial Bias and Policing
A study conducted by Andersen et al. (2023) to address racial bias and lethal force errors among Canadian police officers explored the link between racial bias and common mistakes in the use of fatal force among law enforcement officers. The study examined racial disparities in shoot/no-shoot decision-making among Canadian police officers to address the racial disparities in police shootings, which showed conflicting evidence of anti-Black, anti-White, or no racial bias. To efficiently link racial bias and lethal errors, lethal force errors were compared to illicit racial bias scores on the Implicit Association Test and demographic values like race, sex, and experience. The study found more significant lethal errors in scenarios featuring Black suspects. The authors suggested widespread reforms to police training to reduce racial disparities in the use of force and lethal force errors.
A study on “Racial bias in judgments of physical size and formidability: From size to threat” was conducted to understand racial bias further. According to (John Paul Wilson et al., 2017), black people are easily presumed to be threatening and might be targeted whether they are unarmed or not. Biased perceptions of black people being more significant and physically threatening than young white men contributed to racial bias. The study found that racial differences in formidability judgments were a product of bias rather than accuracy that justified the hypothetical use of force against Black crime suspects. Due to the relationship between perception and bias, the authors suggested that stakeholders should formulate interventions that could shed light on the rapidly unfolding cases of racial bias in contemporary society and meaningfully reduce the biases in the future.
Gender norms and Policing
Gender has a significant effect, with females judging the targets to be substantially more capable of causing them harm and more males being racially biased (John Paul Wilson et al., 2017). To illustrate how officers respond to identity threats from stigmatized officers or external sources, a study conducted by Workman-Stark (2022) studied efforts undertaken by police organizations to address misconduct arising from internal discrimination and excessive use of force. Some police organizations have updated misconduct policies and practices, implemented mandatory training, and established aggressive recruitment goals for female and minority officers to help reduce the increasing reports of discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct. The study found that understanding the embodiment of dirty work, reinforcing the management-frontline divide, engaging officers who endorse a more community-oriented or ‘guardian’ policing style, and reframing the dirty work stigma as an opportunity for reform will help reduce such reports.
To address gender norms and policing, racial and ethnic differences in officer-involved shootings, the female population portrayed a smaller percentage of those affected by the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers (Duran and Loza 2016). Female participants are less susceptible to being dangerous, in possession of weapons, or violent, which led to increased cases of black men arrests. Moreover, despite attempts at gender balance, officer-involved shootings and on-duty cases of use of violence by police have primarily been attributed to male officers. Youthful dark guys are shot and killed by police officers due to their natural well-being: strong, muscular, unfriendly, etc.
The use of force and its implications
A study was conducted to analyze the force or resistance ratio using a trichotomous dependent variable Boivin & Lagacé (2016) to understand the use and implications of force. The study investigated the existence of protective factors that decreased the level of force by the police by analyzing 1,174 self-reported uses of force. Further, the general relationship patterns relating to correspondence between officer force and subject resistance, like the presence of a weapon, the presence of a single officer, subject intoxication, subject resistance, and less severe levels of force, impacted the use of force by law enforcement officers. The analysis suggested that the application of previous studies on the use of force and the Canadian police use of force could be better understood as a trichotomy where the force used by the police is depicted as lower than, equal to, or higher than the level of the subject resistance.
To better understand the use of force, a study was conducted by Williams et al. (2023) to discuss how performative shooting exercises do not predict real-world bias in police forces. The research critiques the article by Andersen et al. on “Racial Bias and Lethal Force Errors Among Canadian Police Officers.” It reviews methodological problems, biased assumptions, and logical errors to address the use of force and cultivate an understanding of racial bias and police violence. The authors indicated that black and indigenous communities are targeted through over-policing, racial profiling, and pre-trial detentions. The exploration of possible relationships between lethal force errors, stress physiology, and suspect race suggested fair and unbiased policing that would make citizens comfortable and confident. To address the issue further, the study concluded by urging the Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science to examine racism in editorial procedures, especially concerning papers impacting racialized communities.
Data and Databases in Policing
American research on race and the use of force links the racial bias against black men to the 1970s (Wortley et al., n.d.). Nonetheless, by 2018, the available data suggest that Black Americans are still twice as likely to be shot and killed by police than their White counterparts. Over the past years, the Washington Post has collected detailed data on all police shooting deaths, and the statistics are posted and updated to ensure law enforcement officers monitor progress and come up with better strategies to stop unfavorable policing practices. Furth emerging American research further suggests that racial disparities exist concerning the police use of other use of force tactics. The study critiques the use of small sample sizes, reliance on newspaper coverage, and lacking a national dataset of lethal use of force cases in Canada as significant factors for increased cases of force by law enforcement officers on black people. Thus, keeping track of the use of force incidents by police on racial grounds and any other policing records plays a massive role in shaping the justice and policing sector for the citizens’ good.
Another study to explain the need for a Canadian database of police use-of-force incidents was conducted by Bennell et al. (2022) to ensure openness, transparency, accountability, and informed policymaking. The merits of a police database are increased transparency and accountability, confidence between the police and citizens, easier comprehension of situations, etc. The database will also provide a platform for people to report cases of crime or instances where the use of force by law enforcement officers has been used, which will help reform the law enforcement department. It is argued that the planned national use-of-force database will be an essential first step in resolving issues and promoting a more knowledgeable and responsible approach to police in Canada. The article addressed the need for a centralized and systematic database tracking police use-of-force events in Canada. The authors emphasized the need to fill the information vacuum and investigate the feasibility, advantages, and potential problems of developing a comprehensive Canadian database on police use of force. The article may not thoroughly examine the diversity of policing tactics throughout different areas of Canada, and the recommended solution may need to be flexible to fit variances in law enforcement structures and regulations. It further discusses the challenges that will be encountered in initiating this measure: mandating nationwide participation, overcoming resistance from the police community, establishing sensible case inclusion criteria, and standardizing data collection. Despite these challenges, the authors believe they can be overcome and that implementing a nationwide Canadian police database will be valuable.
Different Perspectives and Debates
Despite the research looking at the factors that led to an escalation of the use of force by law enforcement officers being racially biased, the article looked at various perspectives on the matter. One constant factor that does not necessarily have to be racial is “Stress and the interpretation of ambiguous faces in police officers.” An article by Belanger & Blanchette (2022) studied the need for fast and accurate decision-making ability of police in performing their duties. In doing so, the authors found that stress causes are fatigue, filing paperwork, and ambiguous faces. The study provided the relationship between forms of stress (occupational, personal, and experimental) and ambiguous faces. In its defense, the research pointed out that frowning, avoiding eye contact, staring, or tensing jaw muscles have been linked to suspicious cases, which made police officers react, especially when stressed. Since stress affects intervention, quality, and interpretation, understanding the sources of stress and assessing their impacts on interpreting ambiguous stimuli is relevant for police. However, law enforcement officers must make sound decisions to the best of their knowledge.
A pre-view study conducted by Koenig shows that the use of force can be caused by the attitudes of law enforcement officers towards motorists, juveniles, working-class people, negroes, and the “people of your precinct.” Police have overestimated the negative evaluations held towards them by residents characterized by low education, unemployment, crime, welfare, and racial minorities. Unlike most studies, this article reviews the perceptions of the police towards the public and how it leads to extralegal uses of force. The study concluded that psychological factors played a considerable role in explaining police use of extralegal means. Law enforcement officers must respect the public as open-minded individuals with a sense of right and wrong and collaborate with them to reduce any forms of stereotypes and bias.
Critical Analysis
There is agreement that police use of force by law enforcement officers against black men is racial, unfair, and biased Andersen et al. (2023). The system has perceived young black males to be highly related to crimes and illegal behaviors as compared to white youths. There is not sufficient primary research available regarding the racial use of force by law enforcement officers, and further research is needed to explain the factors behind these cases. The literature review of this paper re-affirmed the fact, considering that of all reviewed articles and journals, only three articles furthered knowledge on the use of force by law enforcement officers.
The Generalisability and Reliability of Primary Research
Andersen et al. (2023) carried out the first primary research. Set in Canadian precincts, it examined the racial disparities in shoot/no-shoot decision-making among Canadian police officers. Their findings showed conflicting evidence of anti-Black, anti-White, or no racial bias. The study also found more significant lethal errors in scenarios that included Black suspects and suggested reforms to police training to reduce such racial disparities. The study is relevant to further understanding the excessive use of force by law enforcement officers in Canada and other global police departments. Excessively racial use of force has been used in Canada, the UK, and the US, making the case for the strong generalizability of their findings. Despite a small sample size and focus on Canadian police departments, the information gathered was considered highly reliable, pinpointing how black males are stereotyped and treated differently by law enforcement officers.
The Canadian study conducted by Williams et al. (2023) advanced the knowledge of the use of force by discussing how performative shooting exercises do not predict real-world bias in police forces. The research critiques the article by Andersen et al. on “Racial Bias and Lethal Force Errors Among Canadian Police Officers.” It reviews methodological problems, biased assumptions, and logical errors to address the use of force and cultivate an understanding of racial bias and police violence. The strength of this article is the review of over 26000 empirical studies concerning psychological impacts. The exploration of possible relationships between lethal force errors, stress physiology, and suspect race suggested fair and unbiased policing that would make citizens comfortable and confident. One area of concern for this paper is that in as much as it tries to prove how relevant the study is, it ignores the underlying fact that racial prejudice has been an ongoing matter that has not been solved over the years.
Intersections Within the Research
The remainder of the evaluated literature involved reviews of secondary literature and academic discussion papers. All ideas were contrasted and compared due to typical cases of racial prejudice, with young black males being the most affected. All the evaluated materials argued for reforms in police precincts to reduce racial prejudice by addressing factors that led to such excessive use of force and measures to mitigate them. Every article had its unique way of providing the reader with all relevant information regarding policing, the use of force, and racial bias against black males.
The article published by Belanger & Blanchette (2022) studied the need for fast and accurate decision-making ability of police in performing their duties, highlighting stress as a significant cause of excessive use of force. Unlike other articles that discussed race-related factors, this article provided a multifaceted issue that affects people from all backgrounds. This article had a higher reliability rating since rather than explaining racial use of force, it explained the role played by ambiguous faces in impacting the interpretation and intervention of the police.
The campaign for comprehensive databases, promoted by Bennell et al. (2022) and Boivin and Lagacé (2016), indicates a shared recognition of the need for openness, transparency, and accountability in law enforcement. Despite the challenges posed by using databases, the authors indicated that these challenges could be overcome. Their study was highly rated due to its generalizability in finding a long-term solution to the use of force by law enforcement officers. However, the studies presented in the research lack homogeneity in examining systemic factors for the escalated use of force against black men in Canada. Further, primary research is needed to advance knowledge on the use of force and multifaceted factors that influence police behavior towards a particular race. Many other factors that lead to law enforcement officers’ excessive use of force need to be considered and thoroughly explained. This research will provide an understanding for future researchers to explain how these cases might be mitigated and reduced.
Results
After carefully undertaking the research, the following were findings: the factors that led to excessive use of force on black males was that their body physiques were primarily susceptible to violence and criminal activities. This stereotype is because young black males were bigger and presumably more threatening. This stereotype negatively contributed to the excessive use of force by law enforcement officers against black males. Another factor was the issue of gender and policing, which involved an increased number of cases of discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct. This dirty policing is another contributing factor to the use of force due to prejudices based on gender. Furthermore, white women showed fear of mostly being attacked by black males as compared to white women. In contrast, young black females were less susceptible to engaging in threatening or criminal behavior.
Another prevalent factor was the use of force and its implications. These were due to perspectives and stereotypes that black people were mostly presumed to be suspects or subjects of crime, even before being questioned. This perspective contributed to pre-tried convictions and jail terms for black males who were undercovercrowded in Canadian prisons. Psychological factors also contributed to the excessive use of force on black males due to cases of stereotypes, bias, and prejudiced perceptions of black people. The study conducted by Koenig concluded that psychological factors played a considerable role in explaining police use of extralegal means. Furthermore, Williams et al. (2023) address systemic inequalities in psychological research. For the research, these factors answered the research question, “What factors led to the excessive use of force by Canadian law enforcement officers against black males?
Another research question was, “What behaviors of people impact the interpretation of law enforcement officers that then lead to the excessive use of force? To answer this question, a study conducted by Belanger & Blanchette (2022). The study identified stress, occupational, personal, and experimental factors impacting the intervention, quality, and interpretation of police officers under stress when performing their duties. In support of the statement, the behaviors were stressful for police officers and ambiguous faces for individuals. The study found that under stress, police are most likely to suspect ambiguous faces like avoiding eye contact, frowning, staring, or tensing jaw muscles. Another support of this was Koenig’s “Police perceptions of public respect and extralegal use of force.” The study showed that the police overestimated the negative evaluations held towards them by residents characterized by low education, unemployment, crime, welfare, and racial minorities.
The paper provided measures to mitigate the use of force by law enforcement officers against black males: mandatory training, adopting traditional policing strategies, examining racism in editorial procedures, adopting protective factors on the use of force, fair and unbiased policing, exploration of possible policing relationships, understanding the embodiment of dirty works, fostering police reforms, interventions that shed light on the rapidly unfolding case of racial bias in contemporary society and meaningfully reduce bias, reinforcing the management-frontline divide, engaging officers who endorse a more community-oriented or ‘guardian’ policing style, and reframing the dirty work stigma as an opportunity for reform will help reduce such reports.
Another best solution offered by Bennell et al. (2022) suggested a national database that maintained records of all cases of use of force by police in Canada. Adopting this measure would help maintain transparency, openness, accountability, and informed decision-making in undertaking police duties. Thus, maintaining data on all police cases and records will help monitor the growth of cases, what strategies should be put in place, and which strategies should be updated to meet the core factor of reducing the use of force by law enforcement officers on black males. This evidence answered the research question, “What measures should be put in place to control and mitigate the use of force by law enforcement officers?
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Research
The paper conducted a successful insight into the factors for the escalated use of force against black males by reviewing articles and journals. In doing so, it found factors like race, gender norms, different perspectives, use of force implications, body size, approach, and psychological effects to be influencing how the police used force against black males. In addition to these factors, it provided solutions to mitigate and control using techniques like a national database to ensure transparency, openness, and accountability in policing.
The study also used qualitative and quantitative data methods to ensure it grasped all the necessary information and provided adequate information regarding the issue of policing and the use of force. The generalizability and reliability of Primary research and Intersections within the research helped enhance the validity and reliability of the data collected and used. In light of this, the paper had well-designed research questions answered with support from peer-reviewed articles. The study also played a huge role by providing advanced knowledge on the use of force by law enforcement officers against a specific group of individuals since it is a global concern.
The study’s focus on the Canadian context may restrict the findings’ applicability to other nations with distinct legal, cultural, and law enforcement systems. These findings should be applied with caution in multinational situations. The study used a particular sample of people who had encountered or seen incidents of force escalation by Canadian law enforcement. This idea may restrict the findings’ generalizability to the larger population, and individuals who did not engage may have had drastically different experiences. Limited research into how race, gender, and socioeconomic status interact influences bias and the use of force. There may be an underrepresentation of different community opinions and experiences. Due to a lack of homogeneity in articles and journal reviews, this was a weakness of the study. This weakness is because, despite answering the research question, it took a lot of work to link all the studies to the use of force since different scenarios, both personal and situational, cause it.
Discussions
The issue of racial prejudice and bias against black men has been on the rise since the 1970s and has witnessed black folks being unfairly treated and being victims of pretrial convictions and the use of force that led to deaths. This mistreatment is due to the poor representation of black people in the judicial system and the stereotypes surrounding black males. Black people have been susceptible to be threatening and engaging in violence and acts of crime. This bu is because young black males are bigger than young white males, which makes them more threatening. Movements like “Black Lives Matter” have been used to protest against the unequal treatment and killing of black folks in fear of being attacked since they are always presumed to be dangerous, even when unarmed.
Over the years, several studies have been conducted to address the issue of police violence against black males and offer solutions to these causes. However, racial bias has been a phenomenon that has not changed for a while. To date, black males are still viewed as security threats and would be the first suspects in case any wrong happened in their presence. In an attempt to address racial bias and lethal force errors among Canadian police officers, a study conducted by Andersen et al. (2023) found more significant lethal errors in scenarios featuring Black suspects. This study means that even with diversification and a technological world, reforms must be incorporated to ensure that people of color are treated equitably, fairly, and justly to help them live peacefully and co-exist. Furthermore, the proposition that the exploration of possible relationships between lethal force errors, stress physiology, and suspect race suggested fair and unbiased policing that would make citizens comfortable and confident (Williams et al., 2023) should be considered.
Racial bias in the use of force can be an issue against black men for years to come unless sound policies and reforms are put in place and implemented. For instance, reinforcing the management-frontline divide, engaging officers who endorse a more community-oriented or ‘guardian’ policing style, and reframing the dirty work stigma as an opportunity for reform will help reduce such reports of racial bias and inequality against black males (Workman-Stark 2022). To help reduce racial and gender bias in policing, mechanisms like fair and unbiased policing, exploration of possible police relationships, mandatory training, fostering police reforms, and ensuring a fair and equitable society and police system will be crucial. Racial disparities in police use of force incidents have been an issue that needed to be addressed, which help provide primary contributions to the police reforms of Canadian police departments. The study has provided proof that there is too much to be learned regarding using force.
Understanding the attitudes, perspectives, and stress among police officers also helped researchers gain more insights into how these behaviors lead to excessive use of force. For instance, occupational, personal, or experimental stress by police officers causing fatigue led to law enforcers engaging in excessive force regarding ambiguous faces. This case of the state of mind, information bias, stress, and interpretation goes a long way in explaining the rampant cases of excessive use of force, which, when reviewed, does not add up. Another adverse outcome is subjects exhibiting Excited Derilium Syndrome (ExDS), which was characterized by pain tolerance, constant/near constant activity, unresponsiveness to police presence, superhuman strength, rapid breathing, naked/inappropriately clothed, lack of fatigue, and glass attraction/destruction (Baldwin et al. 2022). This evidence points out that various factors lead to excessive use of force by law enforcement officers.
Another essential factor to point out is the measures suggested by authors to address the issue. Bennell et al. (2022) suggested a national database that maintained records of all cases of use of force by police in Canada. This study suggested accountability, transparency, openness, and informed decision-making in the police force. It is argued that the planned national use-of-force database is an essential first step in resolving issues and promoting a more knowledgeable and responsible approach to police in Canada. This article addresses the absence of a centralized and systematic database tracking police use-of-force events in Canada. The authors emphasized feasibility, merits, solutions to problems, and a comprehensive Canadian database on police use of force to help reduce the use of force by law enforcement officers. With corruption on the rise, measures like police uniforms and vehicles being installed with cameras that record, upload, and save everything on the web will help reduce police-induced killings, discrimination, stereotyping, and harassment of specific groups of individuals.
Furthermore, a study by Wortley, Laniyonu, and Laming (2020) was commissioned by Ontario to provide a report on the use of force by the Toronto Police Force. This study analyzed statistics both in American and Canadian research to help understand the development, cause, and measures to ensure cases of police misconduct against indigenous communities are tackled. The statistics involve the correlations between numerous characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, and cases of police use of force. Adopting this strategy will help ensure police misconduct is recorded and saved. When cases requiring judicial proceedings arise, the tapes and files will provide sufficient evidence to help ensure fairness, equality, and a just decision and acquittal.
Understanding the factors that cause, lead to, or influence police behavior towards black folks in Canada provides sufficient insight into the criminal justice and policing techniques in Canada. Despite being insufficient, the measures suggested by authors also play a massive role in shaping the policing reforms and strategies implemented by law enforcement officers in their quest to ensure law and order. This strategy is vital in ensuring law and order; a fair, equitable, and just system ensures peaceful co-existence among society members.
The literature suggests adopting sound policies and reforms that will be incorporated into the police forces to ensure just, efficient, and equitable treatment for everyone regardless of gender, race, age, sex, etc. The study also pointed out that police, like any other human, go through tough times and may or may not engage in excessive or unexpected use of force. However, that should not justify the mistreatment of individuals since law enforcers ought to make decisions to the best of their knowledge, free from bias, prejudice, perceptions, and stereotypes. Furthermore, the psychological disparities of individuals should not serve as the basis for misinterpretation and mistreatment of individuals.
Recommendations
The use of force, factors leading to the use of force, and measures to mitigate it have been studied. The literature has proved that despite decades of reforms, policies, strategies, and techniques, the use of force by Canadian law enforcement officers against black men has not been reduced. Through research initiatives, critically analyzing and implementing these strategies will help mitigate these excessive uses of force in short and long-term contexts.
Further research is needed to explore informal dispute resolution techniques. This further research is because, as much as the articles link these mistreatments to police officers, most scenarios are brought about by the subjects themselves. Some behaviors like anger, anxiety, and show of force are hereditary or learned by interactions with peers, which lead to delinquency. This evidence suggests a joint responsibility of both law enforcers and individuals to take initiatives toward ensuring an equitable, fair, and just society.
Another recommendation is the inclusion of the public in decisions that affect them. This inclusion is because these issues directly affect them, and they know themselves better. This inclusion will help reduce cases of racial bias and stereotypes. Furthermore, regarding psychological perceptions, police officers should assess situations before responding to bias because some individual personalities are unique. In addition, this study has looked into the use of force by police officers, but since law enforcers include even the justice system, how does the justice system contribute to such mistreatments? What other strategies should be implemented to help prevent excessive use of force? What roles do the black males play in such mistreatments? What should black folks do to reduce the excessive use of force on them? How can law enforcement officers work with the community to reduce cases of increased use of force? What additional factors contribute to force by law enforcement officers?
Conclusion
In conclusion, this study has offered valuable insights into the use of force by Canadian law enforcement against Black males, investigating systemic issues and providing complete mitigation strategies. The study’s mixed-methods approach, which included both qualitative and quantitative parts, allowed for a more nuanced investigation of the topic. The research met its purpose of increasing the understanding of the use of force, factors influencing the excessive use, and measures to mitigate and prevent such cases. The factors discussed are racial bias, gender bias, psychological and perceptive bias, use of force and its implications, etc., which answered the research question.
The study suggested a national database system to record all cases of use of violence by police to help enhance accountability, transparency, openness, and informed decision-making. Policies to help mitigate this problem include fair and unbiased policing, examining racism in editorial procedures, fostering interventions that shed light on contemporary society issues, meaningfully reducing bias, mandatory training, police reforms, and exploring possible police relationships.
The study will benefit researchers seeking more insight into the issue of the use of force by law enforcement. Students will also learn how to analyze and tackle law enforcement and criminal justice classes. Legislators will also use this information in prosecuting cases regarding the excessive use of force by police officers. This study will contribute to a better understanding of the complex circumstances behind Canadian police enforcement’s use of force against Black men.
References
Koenig, D. J. (1975). Police perceptions of public respect and extralegal use of force: a reconsideration of folk wisdom and pluralistic ignorance. Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, 313-324.
Andersen, J. P., Di Nota, P. M., Boychuk, E. C., Schimmack, U., & Collins, P. I. (2023). Racial bias and lethal force errors among Canadian police officers. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 55(2), 130–141. https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000296
APA PsycNet. (2024). Apa.org. https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2023-54964-005.html
Baldwin, S., Blaskovits, B., Hall, C., Lawrence, C., & Bennell, C. (2022). Adverse outcomes in non-fatal use of force encounters involving excited delirium syndrome. Police Practice & Research: An International Journal, 23(3),322336.https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2021.1958682
Bélanger, K., & Blanchette, I. (2022). Stress and the interpretation of ambiguous faces in police officers. Police Practice and Research, 23(6), 633-646.
Bennell, C., Brown, A. S., Jenkins, B., Khanizadeh, A. J., MacIsaac, A., & Semple, T. (2022). The need for a Canadian database of police use-of-force incidents. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 64(1), 6-29.
Boivin, R., & Lagacé, M. (2016). Police Use-of-Force Situations in Canada: Analyzing the Force or Resistance Ratio Using a Trichotomous Dependent Variable. Police Quarterly, 19(2), 180-198. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611115613953
Durán, R. J., & Loza, O. (2017). Exploring the two trigger fingers thesis: racial and ethnic differences in officer-involved shootings. Contemporary Justice Review, 20(1), 71–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/10282580.2016.1262771
Williams, M. T., Osman, M., Gran-Ruaz, S., Strauss, D., & Zare, M. (2023). Performative shooting exercises do not predict real-world racial bias in police officers. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue Canadienne Des Sciences Du Comportement, 55(2), 142–152. https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000332
Wilson, J. P., Hugenberg, K., & Rule, N. O. (2017). Racial bias in judgments of physical size and formidability: From size to threat. Journal of personality and social psychology, 113(1), 59.
Workman-Stark, A. L. (2022). “Real men” doing dirty work: implications for change. Policing & Society, 32(10), 1242–1257. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2022.2041635
Wortley, S., & Owusu-Bempah, A. (2022). Race, police stops, and perceptions of anti-Black police discrimination in Toronto, Canada over a quarter century. Policing: An International Journal, 45(4), 570-585.
Wortley, S., Laniyonu, A., & Laming, E. (2020). Use of force by the Toronto Police Service. Ontario Human Rights Commission. http://www3. ohrc. on. ca/sites/default/files/Use% 20of% 20force% 20by% 20the% 20Toronto% 20Police% 20Service% 20Final% 20report. Pdf.
Wortley, S., Owusu-Bempah, A., Laming, E., & Henry, C. (2021). Police use of force in Canada.
write