BLUE LINE CANADA’S LAW ENFORCEMENT MAGAZINE
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JUNE/JULY 2020
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COVER STORY
RCMP northern light The inspiring career of pilot Kathy Stewart p. 16
PANDEMIC
BACK OF THE BOOK
Psychologically guiding the frontline p. 20
Controls on police equipment p. 34
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Contents
24 June/July 2020 Volume 32 Number 6
Features
Columns 4 8 10 13 14 28 34
Editor’s commentary Q&A Interviewing & investigations Health & wellness Behavioural sciences Case law Back of the book
COVER STORY
16 RCMP northern light
Special Constable Kathy Stewart is recognized for her contributions to the aviation industry. By Jon Robinson
20 “Another brick in the wall” of police work: COVID-19
For police officers, COVID-19 has become one more threat that jeopardizes their health and lives. Leadership needs to psychologically guide frontline law enforcement officers in these times. By Sgt. Beth Milliard & Dr. Konstantinos Papazoglou
24 Warding off violence against women
Departments
5 By the numbers 5 News 6 Letter to the editor 7 Calendar 7 Dispatches 32 Off the shelf 32 Product showcase 33 Marketplace 30 Blue Links
COVER PHOTO: MORGAN PALAGAIN
The Vancouver Police Department’s Women’s Personal Safety Team empowers and educates women in the community, but it also connects women in policing, “creating a network of support, camaraderie and mentorship.” By Kimberly Wong
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13 June/July 2020 | BLUE LINE
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EDITOR’S COMMENTARY BY RENÉE FRANCOEUR
Gender parity and the recruitment crisis
B
ack in 2014, Alanna Evans with it?” he queried. “That’s problem solving Canada’s fashion magazine, Flare, and that — along with good tactics and chronicled her experience train- planning ahead — are what I encountered ing for Ontario’s Physical Readi- on the frontline.” ness Evaluation for Police, or the PREP. I also listened in on a TED Talk recorded “I was foiled by the grip test, despite in Vancouver last year, featuring police having trained for it, simply because my Capt. Ivonne Roman. She founded the hands weren’t big enough to wrap around Women’s Leadership Academy to increase the handles and engage the mechanism,” the retention of women in policing. she wrote. “I flunked the practice PREP She provided an American perspective solely because of the grip test.” on the same topic and talked about monSgt. David Jones with the Edmonton itoring New Jersey recruits in 2014 as they Police Service referenced Evans’ account cycled through police academies; she found women failing at high during his presentation earlier rates due to varying aspects of this year at the Advancing WE in “I would the fitness exam. Policing Workshop in Niagara suggest we “There are vast advantages to Falls. Jones, who recently earned have a false women in policing and we’re his master’s degree at the Univer- sense of sity of Cambridge, conduced his security in our losing them to arbitrary fitness thesis research on police hiring physical standards,” she said, noting the testing.” and gender-related barriers. U.S. has nearly 18,000 police “The performance of men in - Sgt. David Jones agencies with widely varying fitness standards. “We have trainpolicing has just been held as a standard and has never been challenged...” ing that does not mirror the realities of policing... Physical agility is but a small Jones said. Advancing WE in Policing is described as component.... Much of an officer’s day is a “collective voice on equity, inclusion and spent mediating interpersonal conflicts. diversity in Ontario policing.” The work- That’s the reality.” shop was one of the last law enforcement According to Roman, “simply changing events I attended before COVID-19 swept the exams” and training well-qualified in with full force and it crossed my mind candidates to pass “validated, work-relatagain recently as I’ve been reflecting on ed, physiologically-based fitness exams as those carefree moments when I once shook required” will increase the number of women in policing, an advantage to everyothers’ hands and dined buffet-style. Jones captured my attention as he shared one given “their proven effectiveness in his research, which found the physical testing diffusing violent situations and reducing component of the recruiting process elimin- the use of force.” ated five times as many women as men. Dan Paling, a municipal police officer in “Do we really want to wait for a court Michigan, commented on one of my ruling before we change our system?” he LinkedIn posts about Jones’ presentation. asked the workshop attendees. “We need to He wrote the Michigan Commission on assess different ways of recruiting women… Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) I would suggest we have a false sense of “dialled back” its fitness testing “years security in our physical testing.” ago” and “it seems to be working well.” The Jones acknowledged decisions can’t be MCOLES physical fitness test consists of made in a vacuum, but pointed to how the four separate events: vertical jump, sitdata can open the door to many more valu- ups, push-ups, and a half-mile shuttle run. able questions. Recruit gender parity is long overdue. “What would we do with the applicant Maybe the old standard grip test has run its who went around the fence instead of over course.
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NEWS tion for risk driven, pre-emptive response.” The goal is to connect individuals and families determined to be at an elevated risk with supports or services before the situation escalates to the need for emergency response or tragedy occurs. Community Mobilization Westman is the first group in Manitoba to adopt the community mobilization model, first seen in Canada in 2010 in Prince Albert, Sask. This year’s Courage Award will be presented at a dinner hosted in honour of Community Mobilization Westman on Oct. 22. WORLDWIDE
The Brandon Police Service championed Community Mobilization Westman, a community safety and well-being initiative. PHOTO: ASSINIBOINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
BRANDON
Community Mobilization Westman to be honoured with Courage Award
Members of Community Mobilization Westman, a community safety and well-being initiative, will be presented with a Courage Award from Assiniboine Community College. The Courage Award was established by Assiniboine in 2017 to commend and honour people who demonstrate courage in all its forms in their business, community, professional or personal life. The Community Mobilization unit is comprised of representatives from multiple social service agencies. This group of representatives, known as the “HUB,” gather twice a week to identify at-risk individuals in the community and provide them with the appropriate social services. The Brandon Police Service championed
this initiative, which launched five years ago, to assist individuals in the Westman area experiencing acutely elevated risk, noted Wayne Balcaen, Chief of the Brandon Police Service and co-chair of the Community Mobilization Steering Committee. Since the launch, the HUB Team has collectively met “hundreds of times” to discuss risk driven situations and “strategize on how best to ensure our clients are seamlessly connected to the services they require. The results have been remarkable,” Balcaen added. Since its inception in 2015, the HUB has had 651 cases come across the table. Of these, 136 have been informed of available services and 423 have been directly connected to services. The services offered by the HUB are completely voluntary and only 3.7 per cent of cases have refused services. The HUB Table “breaks down the silos that social services work in, promoting collabora-
New video series, “Resilient Minds on the Front Lines,” provides tools during COVID-19
A new, free resource has been launched to support everyone on the frontlines of COVID-19, including law enforcement. “Resilient Minds on the Front Lines” is a webcast-based program created to bring “15 minutes of hope in a time in which the world has been turned upside down,” according to the organizers. A team of professionals came together to produce this series to help those on the frontlines help themselves and others through resiliency. The team is comprised of resiliency practitioners, trainers, educators, change agents, psychologists and retired and active law enforcement. Two to three webcasts are produced each week and posted on the YouTube Channel “Resilient Minds on the Front Lines,” as well as archived on the official website www. onthefrontlines.us. Watch the trailer here: youtu.be/Ftj5rCqUrxg.
Visit www.BlueLine.ca for the latest news, stories, products, videos, photo galleries and industry events.
BY THE NUMBERS
Police radio communications have come a long way since the invention of wireless telegraphy in 1896. In 1931 only four cities in the entire United States employed radio for police purposes. Take a look back at some of the history below and more at bit.ly/39Y0v66.
1928 the year the Detroit Police Department made history as the first to dispatch patrol cars regularly by radio
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1st city in Canada to introduce radio patrol cars to their fleet: Halifax
Oct. 6, 1934 the transmitter was set up in Halifax
3
days later, the first car was on patrol in Halifax
June/July 2020 | BLUE LINE
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NEWS CANADA
RCMP to draft national policy for emergency alerts after N.S. shootings
Mounties in Nova Scotia are under scrutiny for not issuing an emergency alert as a gunman rampaged through rural communities, but there’s nothing in the national RCMP handbook to suggest that they should have. In fact, the RCMP says there are currently no countrywide guidelines for when police should use Canada’s public warning system to broadcast information to cellphones and television screens. In the wake of the mass murder that claimed 22 lives in Nova Scotia in April, the force is looking into developing a national operational policy for using the emergency alert system. But experts in law enforcement and emergency management say authorities must strike a delicate balance between informing the public about potential threats and avoiding unnecessary panic. And as the tragedy in Nova Scotia shows, they say those judgments aren’t always clear cut in the throes of crisis with lives on the line. “Make no mistake — none of us have ever experienced the kind of chaos that those officers, first responders and even the critical incident commander faced that night,” said Terry Flynn, an associate professor of communications at McMaster University. “The critical thing for them is that now, they unfortunately have a mass shooting playbook.” Before Canada launched its text-based national alert system in 2018, Flynn said RCMP considered social media to be the best way to communicate during a crisis. Reviews of the 2014 shootings in Moncton, N.B., and on Parliament Hill found that Twitter was a critical tool for disseminating real-time information to the public and media as both incidents were unfolding. In a similar vein, Nova Scotia RCMP used Twitter to send out updates as a firearms complaint in the tiny coastal village of Portapique on the evening of April 18 evolved into a shooting and arson spree across central and northern parts of the province. Mounties have faced questions about why they relied on social media to get the word out when they could have sent an emergency notification to every phone in the province. Some victims’ relatives have called for the issue to be examined as part of a 6
BLUE LINE | June/July 2020
public inquiry into the mass murder. Premier Stephen McNeil has said emergency officials were ready to issue an alert, but couldn’t act until the RCMP supplied information. The Mounties say they were crafting a message when the gunman was fatally shot by police in Enfield, N.S., on April 19 after a 13-hour manhunt. Nova Scotia RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell told reporters that the force is conducting a “full review” of the use of the emergency alert system in consultation with the province and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. National RCMP spokeswoman Robin Percival said in an email that the force is looking at creating a Canada-wide policy, but said public alert protocols are generally set out by provincial emergency management authorities. Flynn, who specializes in crisis management at McMaster, said instituting clear procedures and training about when to issue an emergency alert could save lives in situations where “seconds count.” While it may seem wise for authorities to err on the side of caution, Flynn warned flooding people with notifications could foster “alert fatigue,” potentially prompting some to swipe away warnings about a present threat. He said this “cover your behind” communications strategy may have been a factor in a false alarm earlier this year in Nova Scotia. Days after the massacre, the province issued an emergency alert about possible shootings in the Halifax area that turned out to be nothing, or in one case, construction noise. Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, said it’s easy to criticize these calls with the benefit of hindsight. But when you’re fielding multiple gunfire reports a day, he said it’s not always clear whether you’re dealing with a backfiring car or a shooter on the run. Stamatakis declined to comment on the Nova Scotia killings because the investigation is ongoing, but said emergency alerts are reserved for immediate threats to life and limb, and it’s not an action police take with the push of a button. While he supports the effort to establish national public alert protocols, Stamatakis said no handbook can fully prepare police to respond to a fast-changing crisis like a mass shooting. – Adina Bresge © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc., 2020, first published May 3, 2020.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR The following is a comment in reference to the column titled “Call takers and dispatchers navigate critical incidence response like no other,” from page 13 of Blue Line’s February 2020 issue (bit. ly/3aTYCHJ). This pertains to an article in the February 2020 issue penned by Michelle Vincent. She brings to the reader’s attention the critical nature of the job comcentre operators perform and the necessity to acknowledge their importance. Back in the dark ages in 1965, I was assigned to one of my brief stints on highway patrol out of Vegreville, Alta. We operated alone — as is still the case in some jurisdictions today — and it can get quite lonely on some of those vast stretches of prairie roads. Edmonton subdivision telecoms covered a large part of central Alberta. Often your sole link to humanity was the telecom operator. One of our favourites was Alec Crosse. He had a deep sonorous voice, à la Canadian radio personality Lorne Greene, and was unflappable. He gave one confidence, especially under stressful circumstances. I was floating along at the speed limit in an unmarked ghost car late one night when a vehicle rapidly overtook and passed me. He was traveling so rapidly I was only able to get the license number as he pulled away from my underpowered small V8. I tried to keep pace and radioed telecom. Alec quickly responded, telling me the vehicle was stolen. I was “pedal to the metal” trying to keep the vehicle in view as Alec spoke to me calmly, explaining he had advised Edmonton Highway Patrol, who had dispatched a car to intercept. It was greatly reassuring to hear his voice and to know he was providing me the assistance I required. As we rocketed along Hwy 16, the members from Edmonton had placed a barrier across the road and were able to stop and arrest the two occupants of the vehicle. This is just one example among many where the comcentre operator acted as your sole link. The bottom line is, as Michelle Vincent so aptly advised: when you can, contact your dispatchers regularly and thank them for a vital job well done. - Insp. (ret.) Ian Parsons
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NEWS DISPATCHES
CALENDAR
Insp. Isobel Granger has been promoted to superintendent at the Ottawa Police Service. She will be leading the service’s new Respect, Values and Inclusion (RVI) Directorate. In 2018 she was the service’s first Black woman to be promoted to the rank of inspector. She also just published her book, Smashing the Glass Ceiling, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2017 Harry Jerome National Award for Public Advocacy. York Regional Police Chief Eric Jolliffe has retired. Chief Jolliffe started his career in September 1979 with Edmonton Police Service and returned home to York Region in 1998 to join York Regional Police. He was appointed Chief of Police in December 2010. He has been recognized with countless awards and accolades including the Officer of the Order of Merit for Police Forces and both the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals. Chief-Designate Jim MacSween was sworn in on May 1, 2020. Previously the deputy chief, MacSween is a recipient of the Governor General’s Exemplary Service 20-year medal and began his career with York Regional Police in 1989. The Windsor Police Service has a couple of new deputy police chiefs. Supt. Frank Providenti has been promoted to the rank of deputy chief of operational support while Insp. Jason Bellaire has been promoted to the rank of deputy chief of operations. Deputy Police Chief Brad Hill postponed his retirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After 35 years of adventures, Resource Management Officer Greg Slatter has retired from Parks Canada. He worked for five seasons in Banff, Alta. and five seasons in Mount Revelstoke and Glacier national parks before moving to Jasper, Alta. He started in Jasper at Mile 45 Sunwapta Warden Station before moving to Pocahontas Warden Station where he and his wife Elaine
remained for close to 25 years.
Due to COVID-19, we recommend double-
Canada’s corrections community is mourning the loss of Alanna Jenkins and Sean McLeod, who were killed with 20 others in the Nova Scotia mass shooting in April. Jenkins was a correctional manager at Nova Institution for Women and McLeod was a correctional manager at Springhill Institution. “They worked hard to protect their communities and the inmates under their care,” said Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, in an official statement. “Alanna and Sean will be remembered for their commitment to public safety. They will be greatly missed by those who worked alongside them, and the friends and family who loved them.” In an interview with CBC, Taylor Andrews, the daughter of Sean McLeod, said, “They would have done anything for anybody and not thought twice about it… They were the nicest people I know.”
checking all event websites before booking.
CACN (Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network) MEET Webinar Series June 25, 2020 cacn.ca Ontario Special Constable Association (OSCA) Virtual Run For Nova Scotia June 28, 2020 specialconstables.ca POSTPONED to Nov. 8-10, 2020
115th Annual CACP Conference Victoria, B.C. www.cacp.ca POSTPONED to September 2021
IAWP 58th Annual Training Conference Yogyakarta, Indonesia iawp2020indonesia.org
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2020-01-15 9:28 AM
Q&A Toronto Police Service (TPS) Deputy Chief of Police Shawna Coxon touched base with Blue Line for a special podcast episode this spring. Coxon, who has a PhD in Criminal Law, started the Computer Cyber Crime (C3) section, a service-wide initiative addressing social media, open source investigative techniques, training, technology procurement and cyber-related threats and opportunities. She spoke with us about how TPS was handling pandemic pressures, details on cybercrime in the time of COVID-19 and her commitment to analytics excellence in policing. We bring you clips from that conversation here. Q: How has TPS been doing in these unprecedented times as we continue to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic?
to process that information and use it effectively? That’s really the broader purpose of it, but we’re also interested in driving a culture of innovation in public safety.
We are really focused — myself and the rest of the command team and the chief. We’re still here every day at headquarters. We’re making decisions very quickly, trying to make sure that we can keep the community safe as well as all of our members. I’ve been going on a daily basis to different divisions and units in the city and I’m so proud of the men and women of the Toronto Police Service. You really see how, during difficult times, they rise up their professionalism; you see their ability to just jump in and adapt, and do what needs to be done.
Q: What would you like to see happen when it comes to cybercrime and law enforcement investigations, training, etc. down the road?
PHOTO: TPS
Q: With your expertise in the cyber realm, tell us more about what you’re seeing there during the pandemic? What should police be aware of?
Certainly, attacks are up and they’re up everywhere — not just in Canada. Agencies need to be thinking not just about the number of attacks and how that affects the community, but also the fact that, as police agencies, we are all high value targets... It’s just like when we look at terrorist attacks; people get very focused on the first attack and responding to that. Meanwhile, it may actually be pre-emptive to a secondary attack. So, as we deal with a pandemic, it’s really important police agencies across Canada focus on what may happen within the pandemic... in terms of people taking advantage of the fact that communities are at home, more people are working at home. As a result, they’re using technology that isn’t as secure. This is true in the policing sector as well. We have to look at what we’re using, what’s appropriate for members to use at home, and we have to be prepared for the fact that we may have other events within the pandemic, which may challenge us. 8
BLUE LINE | June/July 2020
Q: Last summer, TPS released details about a new public safety Digital Tech Transformation project named the Analytics Centre of Excellence (ANCOE) and you’re the command sponsor of this project. What is the overall goal?
It’s really about supporting the public safety priorities of the service by using excellence in analytics. What that means is we’re having to do things more strategically. We look at Big Data and ask what information is relevant, what information isn’t relevant? How do you actually image information in a way that makes sense to the end users, which, in our organization, are often the frontline officers, or investigators who need to be able
I think we need a totally new model for cybercrime because it doesn’t fit in the way that other types of offences do — in terms of investigations, I mean. It’s a matter of increasing our collaboration with unique partners, like we saw with Trace Labs and DEFCON Toronto. It’s also about getting the right skills and the right people hired that have those skills; I’m not sure that they can come through traditional policing methods... The question is always do you hire a tech person and train them to be a police officer — and the skills of doing things like testifying in court and maintaining good notes, etc.? Are they hard to teach? Or do you do it the other way where you take someone and you train them as a police officer, and then you train them in cybercrime skills? The fact is, the technology is changing so rapidly, you need people who can continuously learn. A model that is more hybrid, that would allow us to have officers working with cyber experts in investigations, is something I think we really need to try to get a handle on in the long term. We have to build a model that actually reflects cyber criminals and what they’re doing. Currently, our model is just a little bit too traditional, a little bit too slow. We’ll get there, but it’s very difficult to catch up with that space. Listen to the SoundCloud link at bit.ly/2T1n6ZF for the full podcast conversation with Deputy Coxon or wherever you get your podcasts by searching for Annex Business Media: Podcasts.
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INTERVIEWING & INVESTIGATIONS BY KERRY G. WATKINS, LL.M.
Room for rapport: context manipulation when questioning suspects
F
or decades much police questioning of suspects in North America has taken place in small, stark spaces commonly referred to as “hard” interview rooms.1 Given the popularity of this practice one might assume that evidence indicates the use of such spaces increases the probability of suspects choosing to talk to police. It does not. In fact, scientific research conducted over the past two decades suggests the opposite. The use of small interview rooms may actually inhibit the establishment of rapport and, by so doing, decrease the likelihood of suspects choosing to disclose information when questioned. It is widely acknowledged that establishing rapport with a suspect increases the chances of them co-operating with investigators by providing information.1,2,3 Rapport has been called the “heart of the interview,” and is broadly recognized as essential to success when questioning suspects.4,5,6 Studies of real-world suspect interviews indicate that higher levels of rapport are associated with higher rates of confessions; increased provision of information by suspects generally; and, less uncooperative suspect behaviours.7,8,9,10 It is also well-established that the physical context in which a social interaction takes place — such as the questioning of a suspect by police — can play a significant role in establishing rapport. The role of “context manipulation” (i.e., purposely manipulating aspects of the physical environment) in investigative interviews has been studied by scientists because of its potential for improving interview outcomes. One example of context manipulation would be varying the size of the room in which a suspect is questioned by choosing a larger rather than a smaller room. Recent studies looking at the impact of room size on rapport agree that conducting interviews in larger rather than smaller rooms can have a positive impact on rapport building. These findings contradict claims made by some trainers and beliefs held by many police members; that smaller interview rooms foster closeness between suspect and investigator.11, 1, 12,13 Another form of context manipulation that has been encouraged in traditional interview training is the practice of the 10
BLUE LINE | June/July 2020
Footnotes
PHOTO: ADOBESTOCK
questioner gradually moving closer to the suspect during an interview. The reason given for this practice is that “…the closer a person is to someone physically, the closer he or she becomes to that person psychologically.” This “closeness” is supposed to make it more difficult for the suspect to resist the theme (i.e., moral excuse) provided by the questioner to encourage a confession.11 The problem is this claim lacks supporting evidence. 14 Research actually indicates that it is encouraging a sense of autonomy in a suspect and making them feel less pressured not more, that decreases their resistance and increases the chances of them co-operating.5,15 In other words, it is giving a suspect room and not taking it away that is more likely to lead to a positive outcome. Certain investigative practices — such as questioning suspects in small rooms, and/or encroaching on their personal space during interviews — have been around for so long many investigators simply regard them as “the way things are done.” However, professionalism demands that investigators regularly reflect on why they employ certain investigative methods. The use of methods based merely on tradition or on unsubstantiated claims should be discouraged, while the use of methods based on scientific research demonstrating their value should be embraced. Evidence-based interviewing practices, which create room for rapport and encourage the voluntary disclosure of reliable information by suspects, are essential tools for investigative professionals.
1. Kelly, M., et. al., (2013) A Taxonomy of Interrogation Methods. Psychology Public Policy & Law, 19, 165. 2. Abbe, A., et. al., (2013) The role of rapport in investigative interviewing: A review. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 1, 237. 3. Meissner, C., et. al., (2017) Developing an evidence-based perspective on Interrogation: A review of the U.S. government’s high-value detainee interrogation group research program, Psychology Public Policy and Law, 23, 438. 4. St Yves, M., (2006) The psychology of rapport: Five basic rules. In Tom Williamson Investigative Interviewing: Rights, Research, Regulation. Willan Publishing. 5. High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) (2016) Interrogation: A Review of the Science. file:///Users/theinterviewgroup/Downloads/ hig-report-interrogation-a-review-of-the-scienceseptember-2016%20(2).pdf 6. Kassin, S., et. al., (2007) Police interviewing and interrogation: A self-report survey of police practices and beliefs. Law and Human Behavior, 31, 381. 7. Leahy-Harland, S., et. al., (2017) Police strategies and suspect responses in real-life serious crime interviews. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 32, 138. 8. Walsh, D., et. al., (2012) Examining rapport in investigative interviews with suspects: Does its building and maintenance work? Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 27, 84. 9. Collins, K., et. al., (2019) No rapport, no comment: The relationship between rapport and communication during investigative interviews with suspects. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 16, 18. 10. Alison, L. J., et. al., (2013). Why tough tactics fail and rapport gets results: Observing rapport‐based interpersonal techniques (ORBIT) to generate useful information from terrorists. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 19, 411. 11. Inbau, F., et. al., (2013) Criminal Interrogation and Confessions. 5th Ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning. 12. Dawson, E., et. al., (2017) A room with a view: Setting influences information disclosure in investigative interviews. Law and Human Behavior, 41, 333. 13. Hoogesteyn, K., et. al., (2019) The influence of room spaciousness on investigative interviews. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 24, 215. 14. Hoogesteyn, K., et. al., (2020) Utility and effectiveness of the context manipulation techniques: Police investigators’ perspectives. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. doi.org/10.1007/ s11896-020-09374-2
Kerry Watkins conducted more than 2,000 interviews during his 30-year career, the majority of which was spent as a criminal investigator in specialized units investigating a wide range of matters, including police corruption, corporate fraud and homicide. He is currently director of The Interview Group, a professor at Humber College and an adjunct faculty member in the Ongoing Professional Development Program at Osgoode Hall in Toronto.
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HEALTH & WELLNESS
BY ISABELLE SAUVÉ AND BRUNO SEGUIN
An employee-centric organization is one that can grow
PHOTO: PEOPLEIMAGES/E+/GETTY IMAGES
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raditionally, work life has been about conforming and complying with organizational policies, procedures, plans and rules. With new technologies allowing fast paced global interaction — amongst other factors — the centre of attention is rapidly shifting from a focus on institutions to a convergence on human capital. Individuals are gaining more power as organizations compete to recruit and retain the best talent, making the workplace pendulum swing from employer-centric to employee-centric. According to LinkedIn, the best rated companies are putting themselves in employees’ “shoes” and talent professionals recognize employee experience is swiftly becoming extremely important. Glassdoor explains organizations who put their people first experience higher financial returns, better customer satisfaction scores, increased employee retention, greater innovation and greater competitive advantage. An employee who feels valued will give more in return and be invested into the organization and its goals. To achieve strong employee investment, the first step is to share those goals and spend time explaining them instead of simply distributing a document. Organizations usually communicate their short- and long-term goals in documents called business plan and annual general report. Indeed, it is the task for all managers at every hierarchical level to communicate and federate all employees around these key documents. Employee experience is a key ingredient. Managers must not only listen to what employees say but also be proactive and act. Listening to employees means more than just asking for @Blue_LineMag
feedback. Mark Levy, former head of employee experience at Airbnb and Allbirds, states “employee experience is about doing things with and for your employees, not to them.” In the case of law enforcement agencies, it is imperative for practices to reflect current realities and steps to address employee needs must be upgraded. They must ensure operations and business plans respect the central role of employees. Employees tend to go above and beyond when they feel respected and are encouraged to be creative rather than restricted by a parameter of rules. Job satisfaction, employee loyalty and retention are largely predicated on how they are treated in the workplace. Employees are the spine of any organization and must be respected as such. Furthermore, at a time where law enforcement staffing levels are low and resources are stretched thin, a shift in paradigm and organizational focus is critical. Policing is a challenging and highly rewarding career that can become highly sought after once again by putting the employees first. To grow into an employee-centric organization an employee-centric management style must be embraced and implemented. Management must consider staff needs as critical as the profes-
sional needs of the organization. Some current promotional practices within the realm of law enforcement — such as the requirement to demonstrate the competency of “holding people accountable” — has created mistrust and a lack of respect for those preparing to compete for a new position, as well as those promoted under this pretext. It also rewards the wrong behaviour and may reward persons with the wrong intentions. The current para-military structure and mentality of police services does not put its people first. Some disrespectful, ill-mannered and aggressive practices cannot be called management and must be ceased. Current employees with the prerequisite experience, education and skill set demonstrating an interest in professional development should be groomed and highly supported in reaching their goals. Management should be concentrating their efforts at ensuring positive employee experience and keeping them stimulated and engaged. An unsuccessful candidate who has spent countless
hours of their own time to put together a resume and prepare for an interview should gain more from the experience than receiving a deflating and apathetic email advising of the unfortunate news. Unsuccessful candidates should be contacted by the hiring manager for feedback instead of expecting the candidates to reach out to them. Managers must be selected for having the right qualities and skill sets. They must exhibit genuine and a sincere interest for employees. Those at the top must lead with true care and respect. They must view supporting employee success as important as meeting their own professional goals. Nowadays, many organizations conscious of their downfall, are contracting external professionals to manage their internal employee development and promotional process. Others are opening competitions on a cyclical basis for employees who wish to access a specific rank. The competition takes in consideration the goals and plans of the organization and provides a pool of pre-qualified candidates for upcoming vacancies. It also guarantees a fair and equal promotional process, detached from uneducated considerations and favouritism. Data from LinkedIn has shown open and effective management had 143 per cent higher headcount growth compared to those companies who ranked poorly on this attribute. The bottom-line is a better work experience translates into better all-around results and higher productivity.
Isabelle Sauvé is a 13-year veteran with the OPP. She has a MA in psychology and is a PhD candidate. She can be contacted at: isabelle.sauve@hotmail.com. Bruno Seguin is a senior executive manager and international business consultant with experience in global operations, international business development, strategic planning, leadership and corporate governance.
June/July 2020 | BLUE LINE
13
BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES
BY PETER COLLINS AND MATTHEW TOMLIN
Borderline personality disorder – a primer for police officers: Part two
I
n the May 2020 Behavioural Sciences column, we discussed the diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and the challenge these individuals may pose to both law enforcement and clinicians alike.
Interacting with BPD in crisis negotiations
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stress level and emotional state of the negotiation team.1
Interacting with BPD in-person in crisis calls for service
Patrol officers responding to calls involving persons in crisis will likely make contact with a person with BPD, with most interactions stemming from domestic-related contexts involving disturbances or suicidality. Police mobile crisis teams are well-suited for such responses, and connections to appropriate community resources are invaluable. Officers that recognize features of BPD can mitigate against unfavourable outcomes. Successful engagement begins by taking a different approach — by employing active listening, validating their emotions, and engendering enough trust to encourage a productive exchange.3 Below are some considerations when interacting with this population when in crisis.
Borderlines’ behaviours are driven by emotions rather than reason.
An important distinction is officers are used to interacting with people who engage in thought-driven behaviour who mainly react rationally and predictably. Due to emotion dysregulation, however, borderlines may experience anger, fear, or sadness asynchronous with the severity
Individuals with BPD may evoke negative feelings with the negotiator. It is important to have the secondary negotiator and/or mental health consultant on scene...
of the circumstances. Their emotions guide their behaviour. It is therefore crucial officers convey genuine consideration by focusing on the emotions the BPD is expressing. This tactic increases the chance the borderline feels understood and their feelings recognized, in turn, building rapport and trust. Since borderlines are incapable of effectively regulating their emotions, problem-solving may be hindered. BPDs commonly engage in dichotomous thinking, whereby delineated experiences are either good or bad without a middle ground, and as such, fall into one of two extremes. Such emotionally-fused thinking can lead to dramatic behaviour, extreme bouts of rage and accompanying threats of self-harm, including suicide. Officers should consider attempting to manage the BPD’s emotions before trying to solve problems.3
Individuals with BPD view the world as hostile.
Borderlines don’t necessarily understand that others don’t perceive the world through the same lens. Borderlines in crisis are hypervigilant, regularly conducting emotional threat scans for cues and signs of rejection and condemnation. Moreover, BPDs commonly engage in projective identification, attempting to control their emotionality by attributing it to others. www.BlueLine.ca
PHOTO: SDOMINICK/E+/GETTY IMAGES
According to Borum and Strentz,1 police interactions with BPD individuals are when they are in crisis, sometimes as a result of a barricade or domestic hostage situation. Developing a rapport with an individual who experiences extreme reactions within potentially all types of relationships; intense anger; extreme emotional lability; and impulsiveness, will be challenging. BPD individuals fear rejection and may even encourage the officer to reject them to confirm their belief. As with any form of crisis intervention, active listening is paramount. The needs of the BPD will be expressive rather than material or instrumental. Allow them to ventilate, to a point, but be aware they will transfer their dependency and hostility unto you. Allowing them free reign to ventilate may actually make them feel more vulnerable so redirecting the conversation is required. Expect them to start rejecting you if a healthy and productive rapport is beginning to develop.2 If and when you decide to switch negotiators, they may interpret this as rejection and prove how they perceive themselves. They may also “split” the negotiators by over-idealizing the primary negotiator and demonizing his or her replacement. Suicide and self-harm by cutting remains a real risk during crisis negotiations and should be continually monitored. Individuals with BPD may evoke negative feelings with the negotiator. It is important to have the secondary negotiator and/or mental health consultant on scene to provide objective feedback about the
This mechanism is expressed through vilifying others, including police, by calling them names, challenging their authority, or declaring that they’re incapable of helping them. For this reason, the use of humour, sarcasm and self-deprecation should be minimized as it can be misconstrued and taken personally.
Slow things down.
Time tolerance plays a critical role in these situations. Borderlines can feel as if they’re not being understood if they perceive the officer to be hurried, potentially compromising the trust-building process and escalating the situation. Officers need to prepare for lengthy interactions involving substantial and sudden changes in emotion.
Communication skills are crucial.
Below are some valuable tactics in police-borderline crisis interactions, underpinned by active listening and paying attention to cues that may indicate emotional changes and safety concerns: • Providing reassurance. Humanize the situation by using your first name without rank and reiterate you are there to help, acknowledging the person’s situation. • Mirroring. Repeating the last few words that have been said conveys relatedness, which facilitates connection. • Emotional labelling. Validate the borderline’s emotions by acknowledging them without perceived judgment. • Efficiency of words. Have only one
officer speak and talk quietly, calmly and concisely, employing silence and only talking when there is a purpose. • Minimizing distractions/stimuli. Reduce overly stimulating environments as much as possible. For example, decrease the number of first responders and marked vehicles when it is safe to do so, and minimize emergency lights and sirens. • Avoiding advice. Offering suggestions may be perceived as hypercritical or disrespectful and risks evoking an emotional response. Lastly, police officers are encouraged to monitor their own stress levels when engaged in such encounters. It can be highly frustrating at times, and emotionally exhausting when engaged for lengthy — and often repeated — occurrences.
Remember
Your job as a law enforcement officer is not to diagnose but to recognize features that may lead you to determine whether someone has traits of BPD in order to develop a more effective way of communicating with the subject and diffuse the crisis.
Footnotes
1. Borum, R. & Strentz, T. (1992) The Borderline Personality Disorder: negotiation strategies. FBI Bulletin Vol. 61 No. 8 - pp 6-10. 2. Ireland, C. (2011) Application of Personality Disorder to the Critical Incident: considerations and implications. Conflict and Crisis Communication: principles and practice. Ed. Ireland, C., Fisher, M. & Vecchi, G. Routledge: New York - pp 93-111. 3. McMains, M., & Mullins, W. C. (2014). Crisis negotiations: Managing critical incidents and hostage situations in law enforcement and corrections. New York, NY: Routledge.
Dr. Peter Collins is the operational forensic psychiatrist with the Ontario Provincial Police’s Criminal Behaviour Analysis Section. His clinical appointment is with the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health and he is an associate professor with the University of Toronto. His opinions are his own. Contact him at peter.collins@utoronto.ca. Const. Matthew Tomlin serves in Ontario and is the mobile crisis response co-ordinator of his police service. Matthew is also adjunct faculty at several Ontario colleges. He holds a BA in Psychology, an MS in Criminal Justice, and is completing a PhD in Forensic Psychology. He can be contacted at matt.tomlin@startmail.com.
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June/July 2020 | BLUE LINE
15
COVER STORY
RCMP northern light By Jon Robinson, with files from Joy Blackwood
K
athy Stewart first began thinking about becoming a helicopter pilot at age 19 after finishing up eight months of work in the Northwest Territories, including four months in a forestry camp. She was born and raised in Toronto, but the remoteness of Canada’s North appealed to her, as did the Bell Longranger based at the camp just outside of Yellowknife. Stewart’s first step toward an outstanding career began in 1980 when she obtained a Private Pilot Licence (PPL). Now a special constable with the Air Services Branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), based out of Edmonton, Alta., and with more than 13,000 flight hours, Stewart explains her sights were always set on the dynamic world of rotorcraft – “That ability to land virtually anywhere and to hover… your hands are on the controls and you are actively working the machine.” The fixed-wing PPL was a means to an end, completed just days before Stewart’s application interview to attend Canadore College’s aviation program, where she would eventually complete a Commercial Helicopter license. Stewart – despite checking all of the boxes – was not admitted to the program after being told it would be a
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waste of time and money because she would not find a job. She persevered and was admitted to the program, along with another female student, in her second attempt a year later. “Alexia Hannam at the NLAF gala said that she had never encountered any barriers to flying and I thought that is fabulous. That is the way that it should be,” says Stewart, recalling Hannam’s speech from the Northern Lights Aero Foundation annual event in September 2019, when both women were honoured for their inspiring contributions to the aviation industry. “People should be able to do what they want if they have the interest, the talent and the skill set… there has been steady progress since I started.” Stewart would prove her piloting skills
during a checkride with Okanagan Helicopters Ltd., at the time one of Canada’s largest and most-progressive commercial operators. After graduating from Canadore there were no jobs in the helicopter industry, which was reeling from the effects of the 1979 oil crisis and Canada’s ill-timed 1980 National Energy Program. Stewart returned to the University of Toronto to finish her Bachelor of Science degree, which she initially interrupted to pursue her dream of becoming a helicopter pilot. By the late-1980s, however, the industry once again needed pilots and Okanagan, transitioning toward new ownership as Canadian Helicopters, not only hired Stewart, but also made significant investments to elevate her skills. “I was over the moon to be hired by them, because they had everything from very small helicopters to the biggest,” says Stewart. “They had bases across Canada and the opportunities were tremendous for me at that time, that I could gain various endorsements and work in a variety of situations.”
“It’s really important with the RCMP to bring skills with you. You will build a lot of skill on NVGs [night vision goggles], but you probably won’t do a huge amount of specialties like mountain flying, low-vis ops or longline. If you’re looking at the RCMP, it’s important to have a well-rounded career before you join.”
- Kathy Stewart www.BlueLine.ca
PHOTO: MORGAN PALAGAIN
Pilot Kathy Stewart is recognized for her contributions to Canada’s rotary-wing industry
- Kathy Stewart Stewart recalls being one of 18 low-time pilots hired in 1988 by Okanagan, which provided 72 hours of additional training on Jet Rangers. “It was not only a mountain course, but also an advanced operational course, and it just gave you a background to make you very strong as a low-time pilot getting started – exposure to a huge variety situations and skills,” says Stewart, who became a pool pilot on the Jet Ranger. In a matter of months, however, she was flying in northern Alberta and up into the Territories, quickly receiving an endorsement on an AStar. She flew with Canadian Helicopters into the year 2002, supporting a range of missions from fighting forest fires and wildlife management to powerline patrols and high-Arctic work. She earned a 500 endorsement working the diamond patch, followed by a twin-engine Bell 212 endorsement, and then a Sikorsky S-61 after obtaining an American license under NAFTA for seismic work in the U.S., which also led to wildfire missions. Stewart recounts one of her most-memorable mission experiences in working the disaster zone of Hurricane Andrew when it reached south Florida in August 1992 as a Category 5, destroying more than 63,500 houses, damaging another 124,000, and killing 65 people. Canadian Helicopters sent two rotorcraft down initially to supply food, water and ice to survivors, before their mission changed to restore power. Hundreds of aircraft were working the disaster zone with little Air Traffic Control, because it had been wiped out by the storm. “Helicopters were between the ground and 18
BLUE LINE | June/July 2020
500 feet; and fixed-wing were 500 feet and above,” explains Stewart, recalling how any sound surface from parking garages to playgrounds turned into makeshift helipads. “You didn’t lift-off without doing a 360 and having your head on a swivel because machines were flying by at 200 feet. It was organized chaos.” Stewart’s experience gained over these diverse missions was eventually leveraged by Canadian Helicopters when she was promoted as operations manager. She served in this role for approximately three years, adding critical career skills like budgeting, crew scheduling, and asset usage, but her love for flying led her to take on a new role with the RCMP in 2002. “I looked at the RCMP as being a dream job, very mission-oriented flying, flying that makes a difference most of the time,” says Stewart, who had one young son with a second on the way when the opportunity came up. “I wanted to be a mom but I also wanted to be a pilot; and with the RCMP I saw an opportunity to do both.” To support her new role, Stewart took initiative to earn her instrument rating, because the RCMP at the time was flying nights unaided, without night vision goggles (NVGs). “I recognized that if I got in over my head, having an IFR [instrument flight rules] and those skills might help keep me and the operation safer,” says Stewart, noting the RCMP is now heavily leveraging NVGs. “It’s really important with the RCMP to bring skills with you. You will build a lot of skill on NVGs, but you probably won’t do a huge
Jon Robinson is the editor of Wings Magazine and Helicopters Magazine. You can reach him at jrobinson@ annexbusinessmedia.com. Joy Blackwood is the president of the Northern Lights Aero Foundation. *Originally published in the January 2020 edition of Helicopters Magazine, a fellow Annex Business Media publication. Find it at www.helicoptersmagazine.com.
www.BlueLine.ca
PHOTO: NANCY CRITCHLEY
“Watching events unfold and contributing to a successful outcome by using the helicopter to its maximum effectiveness and supporting the frontline members is very rewarding.”
amount of specialties like mountain flying, low-vis ops or long-line. If you’re looking at the RCMP, it’s important to have a well-rounded career before you join.” Stewart feels police agencies more than ever recognize the efficacy of helicopters, even if they are constrained by budgets. The RCMP received its first twin-engine about a year ago. While more such investments are likely, she finds the AS350B3 to be a strong airframe for supporting the frontline members served by the Air Services Branch. “It is a proven platform for aerial support and being that eye in the sky. Our tactical flight officers and mission equipment provide tactical operational support to a command post or frontline members as situations unfold. The helicopter is a critical part of managing high-risk scenarios, as well as regular missions.” Most of the RCMP’s helicopter time involves a two-person crew – the pilot and a tactical flight officer on operational flights. “Approximately 10 to 15 per cent of the time, you wish you had a larger helicopter, primarily to support the Emergency Response Team or to haul a larger payload.” Stewart enjoys the tactical nature of the RCMP, as well as their search-and-rescue missions. In late-2019, her team found a lost person who had been missing for 36 hours in sub-zero temperatures. He was located in a remote, heavily wooded, snow-covered area with no trails or cutlines for ground access, using NVGs and FLIR to pick up the heat signature from a small campfire. This allowed the crew to guide a SAR team on the ground into the area in the middle of the night to rescue him. “We made a difference between him being found and successfully rescued versus the alternative,” says Stewart, who also participated in the extensive search in remote Manitoba for two murder suspects in 2019. “Each day is different and each mission is unique, so it keeps things young and fresh,” says Stewart. “Watching events unfold and contributing to a successful outcome by using the helicopter to its maximum effectiveness and supporting the frontline members is very rewarding.”
COVID-19
The important role of leadership to psychologically guide frontline law enforcement officers
By Sgt. Beth Milliard & Dr. Konstantinos Papazoglou
B
ased on research outcomes, as well as anecdotal evidence of police practice, it has become commonly accepted that police work is both challenging and stressful. Police officers are broadly accustomed to the exposure of threat, trauma, stress, drama, and so forth. Therefore, because crisis is endemic to police work, unlike the general population, officers historically and currently deal with said crisis in a fairly systematic manner. To this end, police officers are amongst those frontline professionals who are trained and expected by the public to respond to crisis and resolve the situations effectively, despite the omnipresent danger in the line of duty. 20
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The COVID-19 crisis impact in police work
The beginning of 2020 was accompanied by the advent of a global threat — COVID-19. Humanity started to realize this threat was omnipresent, and unity and community were some of the integral components that could help them handle this crisis. For police officers, COVID-19 has become one more threat that jeopardizes their health and lives, a reality which is outlined in a CNN report from April 19. In this report, CNN reveals that in New York City alone, 29 members of the New York Police Department (NYPD) have died due to COVID-19 (Waldrop, 2020). The graphic reality is the number of officer
How leadership plays a crucial role
The role of leadership in any company is important to its success; but, in times of flux or turmoil, leadership becomes vital to an agency’s survival. For police organizations, it is no different. COVID-19 has brought forth a different set of challenges that have tested even the most seasoned and well-respected leaders. The constant www.BlueLine.ca
PHOTO: BETH MILLIARD
“Another brick in the wall” of police work: COVID-19
deaths will probably keep increasing over the months to come. There is a plethora of COVID-19 related issues experienced by police officers at this time. Police officers do not belong to the category of professionals who have the option to work remotely from home. They have to be present in order to serve and protect their communities. As part of their work, police officers encounter a large number of civilians and peers during their shift. As expected, those civilians and peers have interacted with many others before they come in contact with an officer. Therefore, officers are very likely to engage with individuals who are COVID-19 symptomatic or even asymptomatic. Despite the fact that personal protective equipment (PPE) is available, the risk for infection is still prevalent. Nevertheless, police officers are trained to respond to danger and crisis; potential death is an understood risk in the realm of police work. Officers are cognizant of the fact they may be exposed to life-threatening situations. However, one of the main stressors for police officers is the fact COVID-19 is an insidious and invisible threat that may even infect others without them experiencing the development of symptoms (CDC, 2020). Taking into consideration that police officers have families, it means at the end of the shift, officers return to their homes and live with their family members. Some of these family members may already have prior health issues or they may be elders who are vulnerable to the egregious impact of the COVID-19 infection. This then becomes another stressor in officers’ lives. Instead of finishing their shifts and getting back home to spend time with their families, they face the debilitating fear of potential COVID-19 infection that may, in turn, put other family members at risk. Consequently, this current crisis may lead officers to further isolation (physically and emotionally) from family members.
change of information and procedures, being short staffed, last minute schedule changes, and the overall concern about dealing with the general public have created a huge amount of anxiety for even the most composed and collected people. As a result, this crisis reminds us that strong leadership is critical to ensure that law enforcement can continue to provide the services the community needs, while at the same time ensuring police members remain safe and healthy. Officers must be able to trust their leadership to provide guidance and clear expectations for each member under their command. Also, leaders should be able to lead from a place of inner calm. This means being able to keep emotions in check, leading with compassion, being honest and candid about the challenges and setting out clear expectations for team members. While leading from a place of inner calm may sound like an easy task, it has proven to be difficult for some of even the most respected leaders. During times of crisis stress is elevated and, as a result, some people may have low capacity to process information and make the right decisions effectively due to biochemical changes in the human body and brain. During these situations their focus may become too narrow; as a result, individuals may solely concentrate on the worst-case situations and get into threatening thinking patterns that often prohibit their ability to empathize, listen, and comprehend the concerns of others (Birk, 2020). Leaders need to be mindful of the fact COVID-19 not only causes fear of susceptibility to get the infection but it also creates increased opportunities for mental health effects. The constant worrying, anxiety, and depression are real issues that may plague law enforcement and their families. These issues need to be recognized and managed by leaders through constant check-ins, active listening, and displays of empathy and compassion towards members. Lastly, leaders need to be cognizant of their own emotions and how to incorporate self-care into their routines.
Recommendations
We provide the following list of recommendations for police leaders to incorporate into their work with officers during times of elevated uncertainty and crisis: • Knowledge is power – Educate and, in turn, update your team using valid knowledge from established organizations such as the Center for Disease, Control, 22
BLUE LINE | June/July 2020
and Prevention (CDC). The following weblink refers to COVID-19 information specifically for law enforcement personnel: www.cdc.go v/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-law-enforcement.html. • Look internationally – Look to recognized law enforcement organizations, such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), which provide valuable information about law enforcement information on COVID-19: www. theiacp.org/resources/document/law-enforcement-information-on-covid-19. • Be aware of changes in your members – COVID-19 may see multiple psychological effects manifested in officers’ physical health and bodies. For instance, tight muscles, chest pain, migraine headaches, and disrupted sleep are some examples of the impact of elevated, crisis-related stress on officers’ mental and physical health. It is essential for police leaders to be aware of the relevant literature and to collaborate with experienced health professionals in order to teach their officers how to monitor themselves. In this way, if any concerning reactions are experienced, leaders will be able to encourage their officers to seek professional help. • Educate your members on healthy coping strategies – It is often enticing for some officers to self-medicate using alcohol or any other types of substances as a way to better manage their stress-related symptoms. However, police leaders need to be aware of these issues and be empathetic and supportive of their police personnel. Leaders could provide guidance for seeking professional help or allow them to have additional breaks such as taking extra days off or vacation time, if necessary. • Provide an environment for open & honest communication – Police leaders should take the initiative to maintain open and frank communication with their officers and explore any challenges officers face during the current crisis. For instance, officers who have family members who are vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19 infection are more likely to experience elevated stress. In this regard, police leaders may develop channels of communication with their staff in order to identify those who are experiencing high levels of concern or stress due to the COVID-19 crisis. • Create forms of support for your members – Police leaders may want to
establish a social support network in their agencies as a way to help police officers feel interconnected and part of a police brother/sisterhood. Nobody should be left alone or in isolation. • Recognize your members’ achievements – It is vital that officers’ accomplishments be praised and highlighted by police leaders themselves (e.g., during line-ups or other meetings). This enables leaders to tangibly acknowledge their officers’ contribution and valuable work. To this end, collaboration with community agencies to promote officers’ accomplishments is also integral. In this way, officers’ valuable work is promoted not just in the realm of the police department, but also in the communities where officers serve. Remember strong leadership and leading through a sense of calm will assist any organization to weather the storm. Our members are our best asset and after the dust settles it will be clear who the true leaders are. Lastly, many thanks to the police officers who are on the frontline, your dedication and altruism is truly remarkable.
References
Birk, M. (2020). Why Leaders Need Meditation Now More than Ever. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from hbr.org/2020/03/why-leaders-need-meditation-now-more-than-ever Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, April 23). Clinical Questions about COVID-19: Questions and Answers. URL: www.cdc.gov/ coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/faq.html International Association of Chiefs of Police. (2020, April 23). Law Enforcement Information on COVID-19. URL: www.theiacp.org/resources/document/ law-enforcement-information-on-covid-19?utm_ source=Informz&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Informz+Email Warldrop, T. (2020, April 19). New York City Police Department has Lost 29 Members to COVID-19. CNN. URL: www.cnn.com/2020/04/19/us/new-york-citypolice-covid-19-deaths/index.html Beth Milliard, PhD, has been a police officer with York Regional Police for 18 years. She is also an adjunct professor with Georgian College and Simon Fraser University. She continues to write articles and speak internationally on police wellness.
Dr. Konstantinos Papazoglou, a former police captain with the Hellenic National Police in Athens, Greece, is a Postdoctoral Scholar at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., and has collaborated as an expert with law enforcement agencies in the United States, Canada and Europe.
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GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
Insp. Colleen Yee, left, and her sister, Det. Alice Yee, began the Women’s Personal Safety Team in order to continue the work of decreasing gender-based violence in the city of Vancouver.
Warding off violence against women: VPD’s Women’s Personal Safety Team al safety and violence prevention, and was
By Kimberly Wong
O
n a global scale it is estimated that one in three women will experience at least one instance of physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.1 Gender-based violence (GBV) is an indisputable issue we all must address and in high-income countries, the classification of which includes Canada, GBV directly impacts 32.7 per cent of women.1 Intimate partner violence in particular is especially prevalent, and a large proportion of violence perpetrated against women is committed, not by strangers, but by individuals known to each woman. In examining the rates of violent victimization in Canada, a downward trend in the number of reported cases was found, as evidenced by Statistics Canada in the 2014 General Social Survey. While this may seem like a promising statistic at first, a closer examination of the numbers reveals that 24
BLUE LINE | June/July 2020
women in Canada are still 20 per cent more likely than men to suffer from an act of violence.2 In particular, Indigenous women in Canada, as well as members of other marginalized groups, are at an increased risk of GBV and there is an urgent need to circumvent this lasting trend, so as to protect and safeguard the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of women in this country. As law enforcement officers, we each have a significant role to play in this.
Vancouver’s Women’s Personal Safety Team
In 2012, the inaugural Women’s Personal Safety Team (WPST) workshop was conducted, borne out of a need to increase public knowledge on GBV. Created by Insp. Colleen Yee and her sister, Det. Alice Yee, this workshop taught the basics of person-
simple, yet effective tactics taught by women, for women, and through positive feedback and word-of-mouth recommendations demand for additional community-based workshops began streaming in to the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). By January 2013 — mere months from when the initial workshop was proposed — a team of 16 female police officers had already been identified, recruited and trained for the WPST, and in the years following, the WPST has grown and matured exponentially. In 2020 it now boasts a strong volunteer team of 28 female VPD officers, led by Insp. Yee and Det. Yee. Having conducted more than 130 community-based workshops since its inception, the WPST has educated more than 5,400 women in Vancouver on the requisite skills necessary to defend themselves in potentially threatening/violent scenarios. “The Women’s Personal Safety Team was created to inspire, empower and educate women in the community,” Insp.
www.BlueLine.ca
PHOTO: VPD
Helping women to help themselves through designed to be accessible for all particiregardless of physical ability and awareness, knowledge and self-empowerment pants, prior knowledge. Participants lauded the
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GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE Yee says. “It has also connected women in policing, creating a network of support, camaraderie and mentorship. This has been a unique and transformational experience.”
Learning the four A’s and more
In spite of the magnitude of the issue they are tackling, the WPST has a simple and clear mission statement: to educate, inspire and empower women to take ownership of their personal safety. The VPD instructors recognize violence prevention begins long before any act of violence has actually been committed and, as such, instruct participants first and foremost on the four A’s of personal safety: Awareness, Assessing, Anticipating and Acting. Participants are educated on what potential perpetrators are looking for in their victims and learn about the consequences of existing habits that may inadvertently increase the risk of violence. They are also taught the importance of verbal tactics and body language as a mode of defense against impending danger and violence. In the event that an act of violence is imminent and unavoidable, participants are instructed to seek out opportunities for escape through the use of basic concepts that are intended to cause sufficient injury to the perpetrator. Designed to be easily remembered and implemented for individuals of varying physical ability, these concepts are intended to be accessible and effective when used with intent and purpose.
Fostering a deeper trust
For some, the WPST workshop marked the first time that participants held conversations with police members. In a multicultural city like Vancouver —which boasts one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse populations in the country — these positive, informal interactions with police members are especially significant. Not all newcomers have had the privilege to reside in a country where police members work to serve and protect, and for individuals who have lived under corrupt police forces, it can be difficult to move past this learned and adaptive fear of authority. The WPST helps to challenge these preconceptions in a non-confrontational manner, fostering positive relational experiences with police. The WPST has found the workshops have proven invaluable in establishing trust with marginalized community members who have historically held fraught and sensitive relationships with police. Some participants may have been incar@Blue_LineMag
cerated, had family members involved in the criminal justice system or have been victims of crimes themselves, and as such, unwittingly associate police members with traumatic memories. The workshop provides participants with a fun, welcoming and interactive experience, providing an opportunity to interact outside of a formal police call and helping to establish a deeper trust in law enforcement. Additionally, the WPST has conducted workshops with a number of specific community groups over the years, including: Immigrant Service Society of B.C., Az-Zahraa Islamic Centre, Pacific Autism Network, Vancouver Native Housing Society, Right to Play Indigenous Youth Group, Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver, Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver and many more. The Women’s Personal Safety Workshop has also been incorporated into the life skills curriculum for PACE Society in the past, which helped to establish a collaborative, proactive relationship with sex trade workers in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside community.
Supporting the advancement of policing
The WPST provides support to VPD’s frontline officers through dedicated interventions, most recently hosting a series of community forums for students and parents of several private schools that were targeted by a prolific sex offender. In doing so, the WPST was able to provide greater reassurance and knowledge to affected members of the public by sharing their expertise and answering questions to alleviate any fears and concerns. The team has also supported other policing agencies by providing WPST workshops in nearby jurisdictions, and has even hosted a delegation of female police officers from Ukraine. Providing a blueprint for a successful violence prevention workshop, the WPST hopes to share their program knowledge with as many policing agencies as possible, so as to improve GBV not just in Vancouver but also across the globe. Given the importance of this program, the members of the WPST have each been trained especially for the purpose of carrying out program requirements. Further to the standard use of force training that all police members have to undertake, WPST instructors have also been formally certified to demonstrate their written and practical understanding of WPST concepts. Serving as a shining example of how
policing can be elevated with ongoing training and personal development, the WPST ensures that their skills and expertise remain as well-rounded and up-to-date as possible. Additional training has included seminars ranging from Krav Maga handto-hand control tactics to Systema, a Russian form of holistic martial arts focusing on intuition, breath and body awareness. This continual learning has a tremendous impact on the individual careers of each instructor and also directly translates to the confidence and leadership that each instructor brings to their work in protecting the community at large. The significance and impact of this work has not gone unnoticed within the policing community. In 2018 both Insp. Yee and Det. Yee were recipients of the Award of Meritorious Service at B.C.’s 37th Annual Police Honours Night. They were also recognized by the department that year, receiving the VPD’s Chief Constable Commendation Award for their tireless efforts with the WPST. Furthermore, Insp. Yee was the recipient of the 2019 YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in two separate categories.
What’s next?
The WPST has no intention of slowing down and continued recruitment for new instructors will provide an opportunity to expand the program, while building in natural succession planning. A particular focus of the team moving forward is to apply a youth-specific lens to the workshop. In addition, the WPST hopes to incorporate leadership development in young women through mentorship opportunities, allowing mentees to interact, learn and grow with positive, pro-social female role models. In light of the COVID19 pandemic, the WPST has also adapted rapidly to the changing demands of program provision, with an online workshop that was to be conducted for the first time ever in May.
Footnotes
1. World Health Organization (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. WHO, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, South African Medical Research Council. 2. Perreault, S. (2015). Criminal victimization in Canada. Statistics Canada. Kimberly Wong is contracted as the program administrator in the Youth Services Section with the Vancouver Police Department.
June/July 2020 | BLUE LINE
27
CASE LAW
BY MIKE NOVAKOWSKI
Grounds for an arrest and a search warrant involve different considerations
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BLUE LINE | June/July 2020
what we’ve observed over the last couple of days.” It was the team leader’s hope the police would then obtain grounds to advance a second search warrant application for the home. The judge nevertheless concluded that Buchanan’s ss. 8 and 9 Charter rights had been violated. Buchanan’s arrest was unlawful as the police lacked sufficient reasonable grounds to arrest him. Although
“The denial of a search warrant does not act as a legal declaration that the police are prohibited from using the grounds contained within the Information to Obtain the warrant to furnish grounds for other purposes.” - Justice Fairburn the police subjectively believed Buchanan had purchased drugs in the residence, their belief was not objectively reasonable in the circumstances. Thus, the arrest was arbitrary under s. 9. Since the arrest was unlawful, the search flowing from that unlawful arrest was unreasonable under s. 8. Despite the Charter breaches, the judge admitted the gun and drugs under s. 24(2) anyways. First, the breaches were serious,
but not egregious, abusive or flagrant. Although the police did not have sufficient grounds to arrest Buchanan, they had enough to justify an investigative detention. However, an investigative detention would not have permitted a search of the vehicle where the drugs and gun were located. Second, the impact of the breach on Buchanan’s Charter-protected interests was significant and favoured exclusion. Finally, the charges were serious and the value of the evidence was significant. It was reliable and critical to the Crown’s case. This favoured inclusion. Upon balancing all three factors of the s. 24(2) analysis, the judge was not satisfied that the admission of the evidence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Buchanan was convicted of various drug trafficking and firearms offences and he was sentenced to four-anda-half-years in prison. Buchanan challenged his convictions before the Ontario Court of Appeal. He argued the trial judge made several mistakes in relation to her s. 24(2) assessment concerning the seriousness of the Charter-infringing police conduct. These mistakes included the trial judge’s determination that the police had the grounds to conduct an investigative detention and misinterpreted the denial of the search warrant as an invitation to arrest the next suspected buyer. In Buchanan’s view, these errors required a new s. 24(2) analysis and mandated the exclusion of the evidence. www.BlueLine.ca
PHOTO: KALI9/E+/GETTY IMAGES
J
ust because a search warrant has been denied, the police need not change what they suspect or believe to be true, Ontario’s top court has declared. In R. v. Buchanan, 2020 ONCA 245, police received information from a confidential informer that a person was trafficking heroin and fentanyl from a specific residential address. They were also several citizen complaints about vehicle and pedestrian traffic at the residence. The police set up surveillance over two days and saw activity consistent with what they believed to be drug trafficking at the home. Based on the confidential tip and the surveillance, the police unsuccessfully applied for a search warrant. The justice denied the warrant stating, “Grounds as presented and when considered in totality, falls short of rpg [reasonable and probable grounds] to believe that items to be searched for will be at the location. No evidence to show that heroin and fentanyl would be in residence.” After learning that the search warrant had been denied, the police decided to arrest “the next suspected buyers.” Buchanan’s vehicle was next to arrive at the address. He and his passenger went into the home, stayed about 15 minutes and then left. This observation led police to believe that there were grounds to arrest the occupants for being in possession of a controlled substance. The vehicle was stopped and both men arrested. Upon searching the vehicle incident to arrest, the police found a stolen, loaded, restricted firearm in a case that had been secreted behind a modified glove box; four cell phones; a significant amount of cash; and cocaine and heroin packaged in small baggies and secreted in an air vent. Other evidence related to the ownership, insurance and financing of the vehicle was also found. In the Ontario Court of Justice, the team leader testified that he understood the warrant to have been denied because there were insufficient grounds to believe that heroin and fentanyl, as opposed to other controlled substances, were in the residence. He then instructed his team to “arrest the next suspected buyers … [p]ersons that come and show behaviour similar to
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Investigative detention
In agreeing with the trial judge that the police had sufficient grounds to detain the accused for investigation, Justice Fairburn, delivering the opinion of the Court of Appeal, first described this power: The police may detain an individual for investigation where, in all of the circumstances, there exist reasonable grounds to suspect that the individual is connected to a particular crime and the individual’s detention is necessary. Reasonable grounds to suspect is a lower standard than reasonable grounds to believe. The first engages a reasonable possibility, while the latter engages a reasonable probability. When determining whether those thresholds have been reached, a common sense and practical approach to considering all of the circumstances is called for. [references omitted, para. 23] In this case, Fairburn agreed with the trial judge that the officer’s grounds rose to the level of a reasonable suspicion that Buchanan was in possession of a controlled substance, which was sufficient to justify an investigative detention. The police were dealing with information coming from a confidential informer that had been amply confirmed. The police had much more than the simple attendance of a person at a suspected drug house. All of the circumstances known to the police at the time they intercepted Buchanan, filtered through “their practical, everyday experience to the interpretation of what they were seeing,” needed to be considered: ... There was a confidential tip about drug trafficking at the exact residence where civilians had made complaints about activity that suggested short visits to buy drugs. Police surveillance confirmed that activity, revealing numerous people, some of whom were known to the police from the local drug community, attending at the residence for very short periods of time. The police even observed what they believed to be a hand-to-hand drug transaction through the window of a vehicle out front of the residence, just prior to the appellant’s attendance at the home. He was only in the home for 15 minutes. Again, the police testified that this was consistent with a drug transaction. 30
BLUE LINE | June/July 2020
“While I accept that it would be wise for the police to pause and consider the strength of their grounds in the face of a search warrant denial, particularly where their grounds to arrest overlap with the grounds for the search warrant, there is nothing inherently wrong with the police pursuing other investigative options...” - Justice Fairburn There was an ample factual foundation upon which the trial judge could conclude that the police had sufficient grounds to detain the appellant for investigation. Indeed, so plentiful were the grounds that this may well have been a case where the s. 9 issue could have resolved differently. [paras. 34-35]
Search warrant refusal
The Court of Appeal found the police did not improperly ignore the denial of the search warrant application. Far from seeing the denial of the search warrant as an “invitation” to arrest the next person who came to the residence, the denial “caused the police to pursue alternative means to advance their investigation.” Fairburn noted there was nothing inherently wrong with “the police using a lawful arrest to advance an investigation, even where that arrest is to assist with furnishing the grounds upon which a search warrant application may rest.” Plus, the police did not simply set out to arrest the next person to arrive at the home. “Rather, they set out to arrest the next person who they believed to have done a drug transaction in the home,” Fairburn said. “In other words, they set out to arrest the next person they had reasonable grounds to arrest. Given the short time that the [accused] attended at the residence, the police believed that he
fit the same pattern as the people who they had been previously seen coming and going from the residence.” Moreover, “the denial of a search warrant does not act as a legal declaration that the police are prohibited from using the grounds contained within the Information to Obtain the warrant to furnish grounds for other purposes.” The role of a justice in determining whether to issue a search warrant and the role of the police in determining whether they have sufficient grounds to arrest are different. A justice determines “whether there are sufficient reasonable grounds to support the statutory prerequisites” to issue a warrant while “the grounds for arrest involve an assessment of all of the circumstances known to the police at the time of the arrest.” Here, the police not only knew of the circumstances included in the Information to Obtain the search warrant, but also made observations while the warrant was being considered, which included what appeared to be a hand-to-hand drug transaction outside of the home. “While I accept that it would be wise for the police to pause and consider the strength of their grounds in the face of a search warrant denial, particularly where their grounds to arrest overlap with the grounds for the search warrant, there is nothing inherently wrong with the police pursuing other investigative options based upon their own view of the facts,” Fairburn said. “In other words, the police are not required to alter what they believe (or suspect) to be true, simply because a search warrant has been denied.” In this case, the justice denying the search warrant said it was because she was not satisfied that the specific drugs – heroin and fentanyl – would be found in the place to be searched. “The police were not, as [Buchanan] suggests, flouting the Justice of the Peace’s decision,” Fairburn said. “Indeed, to the contrary, they showed respect for that decision and worked toward obtaining further grounds to fill what the Justice of the Peace perceived as the gap in the warrant application: evidence respecting the actual drugs of heroin and fentanyl.” Buchanan’s appeal was dismissed.
Mike Novakowski is Blue Line’s case law columnist.
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BACK OF THE BOOK
BY MORLEY S. LYMBURNER
Tighter controls needed on police equipment
C
reating a fake police cruiser is today with all the images on the Internet. not that difficult when one The next step would be to obtain a considers that it is an everyday vehicle which looks as close as possible to occurrence in the movie and that driven by local police. Many agencies TV production industry. Having attended dispose of fleet vehicles to the highest many law enforcement trade shows over bidder at annual auctions and in many 28 years of publishing Blue Line, and cases the fleet colours are still intact. previously being a movie site inspector Most agencies in Canada have patent and with the police, I have seen multiple police copyright laws that help them enforce their car mock-ups used by car manufacturers vehicle designs. Most municipal, provincial who wish to promote their brand. and federal police have even gone so far as Seldom do we have such a to place a Royal decree (patdouble jeopardy of events as is Stopping for ent) on their departmental the case in this Nova Scotia the police is a crest from the heraldry deseries of crimes; an insidious necessity but partment of the Governor disease keeping people in their the idea of being General of Canada. (www. houses and a madman killing lured to stop gg.ca/en/heraldry). This makes loved ones in their homes and and then being the replication or improper cars through a wide swath of killed by the use of the image a criminal ofmultiple locations. This heart- very person you fence. breaking tragedy unfolded over are expected to Examples of facsimile poa 12-hour period in Nova Scotia trust is far too lice vehicles abound. Most starting during the night of hard to imagine. notable is the TV and movie April 18 and into April 19. It is industry. In one movie I recall a night that will be seared into the minds Chrysler Corp. supplied 200 police cars, of every Canadian. all dressed to look the part and ready for The sheer audacity of the crimes is shock- crashing. The use of their vehicles was ing and left police in a Catch-22 situation. considered good promotion so there was People being shot and multiple houses no more interest in returning the last of being burned tied up an enormous amount the undamaged cars; they were sold off at of police resources while the assailant bargain basement prices with a promise continued producing more crime scenes as the new owners would repaint them. he went from location to location and The importance of maintaining the multiple jurisdictions. Police would have public’s trust in police work is far too been reeling from the onslaught. important to ignore any confusion that Being stopped by the police is a heart may exist about police vehicles. In Canpalpitating moment for members of the ada there is a habit of paralegal service public. Stopping for the police is a necessity companies dressing their vehicles so they but the idea of being lured to stop and then closely resemble police cars. This should being killed by the very person you are ex- be stopped because in many circumpected to trust is far too hard to imagine. stances there are only slight variations in Given all the varied police agencies appearance. across North America, and their individThe laws in every jurisdiction must be ualistic desire to have their fleet stand hardened to ensure police can ferret out apart, it only takes someone with a strong those who would create an image that enough desire to replicate their police would cause confusion in the mind of vehicle of choice. All they need is time and the public. The requirement to have money and a good eye for what they see in motorists pull over is far too important their community driving around. to society. Of course, the job can be made easier if someone has the meticulous touch of a Morley S. Lymburner is the former publisher of Blue body shop worker and has access to the Line. Read his blog at behindthebluelineweb. striping materials. This is only made simpler wordpress.com.
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BLUE LINE | June/July 2020
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