The death of George Floyd in Minnesota has led to calls for widespread changes when it comes to policing. Protesters are demanding that allegations of systemic racism within policing be addressed. CBC’s Heather Hiscox spoke with Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly and Edmonton Police Chief Dale McFee.
Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly and Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee express their hunger for real change and explain what they call a ‘structural inability’ to solve the issues they face. 27:23
The death of George Floyd has led to calls for widespread change in Canada, particularly when it comes to policing. Activists and protesters are demanding that allegations of systemic racism within policing be addressed, and some are calling for the defunding of police.
CBC’s Heather Hiscox spoke with Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly and Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee about these issues.
CBC: When you saw the video of George Floyd under the knee of that Minneapolis police officer, what was your reaction?
McFee: It was like I got kicked in the stomach. It was disgusting. It was by no means acceptable. It was an attack, a professional attack on our minority communities and just the communities in general. And it’s ultimately nothing to do with professionalism. It’s criminal. And it just made me sick.
Sloly: It was a criminal tragedy. It’s one that affects me as a police professional, as a human being, and as a person who self identifies as Black.
I will tell you, I’m still proud of what you see in this country. It’s the best brand of policing anywhere in the world. It is not without its faults. We have individuals who let us down at every level in the institution and we have institutions that have systemic flaws, not just in policing, but in other parts of society. Our challenge is not to just identify the bad apples or the bad batch of apples, but to address the entire tree from the tree top, which is the chief’s office, down to the roots, which is the culture.
CBC: You spoke of systemic flaws, Chief Sloly, that there is systemic racism in Canadian policing and the system is, in fact, broken. Do you agree with that, Chief McFee?
McFee: Absolutely, but I think when I say that, I think we’ve got to also focus on there’s a new group of police leadership … I think there’s been many positive gains. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. And you mentioned systemic racism. But systemic racism is in our communities. It’s right across.
CBC: But included in policing?