A week after four Black officers went public with their experiences of racism inside the ranks of York Regional Police, they are not feeling confident it will result in any lasting change inside the force.
One of the officers who spoke about his experiences to the York Regional Police Service Board, Const. Dameian Muirhead, told NewmarketToday that he is concerned the police department is betting the issue will be swept back under the rug once the public's attention turns away.
"I'm not optimistic ... The organization has been very quiet. They haven't reached out to any of us. Same with the police board. When we didn't hear anything from them after a few days, we ended up sending them a letter asking for them to meet with us and discuss mediation of some sort," said Muirhead.
"That was Saturday, and we haven't heard anything back from them, but we did give them until Friday to respond or make an announcement."
Since speaking up, Muirhead said people who have contacted them have been supportive, including other Black officers, but many of them said they were too scared to speak out as well.
Muirhead said he is sure that there is plenty of anger inside the police department directed at him for speaking out but he hasn't heard any of it, and he doesn't he want to hear it.
"I don't need the negativity," he said. "But actions speak louder than words, and I have not heard one peep from people on my shift. Not one of them has called me to say they were sorry to hear what I went through. That's pretty telling."
Muirhead said he and the other officers, Const. Stephano Therese, Special Const. Vernley France, and Const. Neil Dixon, had decided they needed to take their concerns to the police board after talking among themselves about the racism directed at each of them during their careers from colleagues, supervisors and top administrators inside the police force.
"Coming forward like this was the last thing we wanted to do. We made a lot of attempts to talk to the chief about how we are feeling and how it was impacting our healths, but it was a struggle at every turn," said Muirhead.
"In the end, we decided that if we continued to go it alone, we wouldn't get anywhere. But if we could come together to fight it as a block, and that's what we did."
They got their chance to speak to the police board at its monthly meeting last Wednesday.
The four officers, all of whom are veteran officers and immigrants to Canada, spoke in scathing and emotional terms to the York Regional Police Services Board about racist, abusive and callous treatment at the hands of colleagues and supervisors.
Police Chief Jim MacSween applauded the officers for their bravery for coming forward and said the service takes the issue seriously. But he also read from a carefully worded statement that did not quite accept that systemic racism is a particularly bad problem within the police service.
"We recognize that anti-Black racism exists in our society and in our institutions, both public and private," said MacSween.
"Policing a jurisdiction as diverse as York Region requires ongoing efforts to build an environment of trust and respect, both in our community and in our workplace. We continue to ensure our members and our community are aware of our deep commitment to eliminating racism, including anti-Black racism, in all its ugly forms."
Speaking a week later, Muirhead said that MacSween's carefully neutral statement "infuriated" him and the other officers.
"We heard that speech before. It was a very scripted response prepared ahead of time, and there was nothing heartfelt about it. We were very disappointed by that," said Muirhead.
"He essentially invalidated what we were saying."
At the police board meeting, the four officers made it clear they did not share the chief's view that the force is committed to dealing with racism and that its refusal to deal with the problem — sometimes communicated to them by the police department's lawyers — caused serious harm to their lives.
"What happened is stuck in my head forever; it will never go away," said Const. Therese, who said he has experienced harassment from colleagues and supervisors, including threatening phone calls.
"I can say that system racism, anti-Black discrimination and racial discrimination are very well present in the York Regional Police."
Special Const. France told the board that he has faced explicit racism from other officers, including being told that he is a token Black officer and that Blacks are inferior.
"I am here today because the York Regional Police has a very serious problem: it's us, Black people. But we are only a problem because it doesn't want Black people here," said France.
"A white officer told me that the only reason I am here is because I am Black. So they hired me to reflect the community. Another officer told me in the presence of a young offender that Black people are slow, and most are criminals."
"One of the most degrading incidents was when a supervisor said a racial slur in my presence demeaning Black people. In 2015, I came forward to address this issue, and as a result, the York Regional Police retaliated with a series of actions against me. "
Most of the four officers said they had been retaliated against by the police force for not remaining quiet about the problem, often in the form of being passed over for promotions.
Const. Neil Dixon, a nearly 20-year veteran, held up his many awards and commendations for the members of the police board to see before telling them that he has been constantly looked over for promotion.
"My performance has been exemplary, but because of my Blackness, I have been overlooked and marginalized for promotions on many occasions. My immediate supervisors and command have shown a blatant lack of interest in my promotion application. This is further evidenced by the fact that I have not had a mandatory performance appraisal done in five years," said Dixon.
Dixon said he has been branded as trouble in part because of his involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement and was racially profiled in July 2018 while out of uniform by fellow officers who would not believe he was one of them.
"They didn't believe me because of my Blackness. This led to the situation escalating to the point where I felt I was going to be killed by my own police service," he said.
Chief MacSween told police board that the department is working on an inclusivity strategy, part of which will be changes to training and promotion processes.
Counsellor Randi-Mae Stanford-Leibold implored the police board to listen to the officers' stories and decide to make a change to the culture of the police service to better reflect its stated values.
"This can be challenging for organizations because it requires accepting that some things haven't been working. Today I would like you to acknowledge that the treatment these officers are experiencing has not been professional, compassionate, fair courageous or respectful," she said.
Stanford-Leibold made some recommendations to the board, such as acknowledging the history of systemic racism in the police service, reinstating a resiliency and mindfulness training program, supporting Black officers, and anti-Black Racism training.
Chief MacSween said he looked forward to speaking with her further on those recommendations, while police board chair Virginia Hackson promised that they will take this issue seriously and look for ways to work on it.
"You have given all of us a lot to think about and act upon," said Hackson. "We will include you in steps moving forward."
