Racial bias and 911 calls: Montreal police train dispatchers to focus on facts
When someone calls 911 to report a crime, a dispatcher has just seconds to react. When all goes to plan, police will be on their way in a matter of moments, ready to respond to an emergency.
However, the responding officer will only have seconds’ worth of information to work with, and sometimes, that caller’s information is affected by racial bias, experts say.
“A good example would be when someone calls regarding a group of young Black men in a park, and the caller adds that they’re ‘probably part of a street gang’,” said Dammya Loiseau, a 911 supervisor at the Montreal police department (SPVM).
“The general caller is not equipped to validate if that person is from a street gang,” she said.
“[But] when we put, verbatim, ‘they are probably part of a street gang’… the police officer’s reaction is not the same, because they are going to be ready for [that sort of situation].”
Loiseau is part of an internal push within the SPVM to change the way dispatchers relay information to officers.
She’s one of a small group of agents behind a new training program that encourages dispatchers to restrict the information they give police to facts only.
That way, she says, officers won’t be influenced by the racial bias of callers.
“We have to be careful to make sure that whatever the caller says is actually a fact,” Loiseau told CTV, adding that the new training encourages dispatchers to ask additional, fact-finding questions to callers, even after the officer has received a first round of information.
For example, “‘do you know them to be part of a street gang?’ ‘Can you give us a description?’ ‘Can you tell us how they are dressed?’”
Loiseau says she believes the training, which began last week, is one of the first of its kind in Canada. She says nearby police departments have expressed interest in creating their own, similar programs.
For the most part, reception to the training has been positive among the SPVM’s dispatcher workforce of 220.
“Some of them did not even realize that the words they chose had an effect on police interventions,” she said.
FILE: Police are shown on the scene in the Montreal suburb of Dollard-Des Ormeaux in Montreal, Saturday, February 13, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
FACTS ARE A MATTER OF SAFETY: FORMER CHIEF INSPECTOR
Former-SPVM chief inspector Paul Chablo told CTV that, during his time as an officer, he found himself responding to calls with extremely limited information.
“It was a scary thing,” he said. “We don't want to arrest the wrong person, or interview the wrong person."
Loiseau says there are a few common ways that a 911 caller might misidentify someone, or make an assumption that may not be true.
For example, she said, a caller might identify someone of Asian descent as "Chinese," or a Middle-Eastern person as "Muslim."
Chablo says he supports the initiative, adding that any training to make dispatch more fact-driven is a positive step to ensure the safety of officers and subjects of a 911 report.
“They'll see fewer cases of racial profiling, as well as fewer cases of illegal arrests,” he said.
A RESPONSE TO DISPROPORTIONATE STOPS
Loiseau says she and others were inspired to add additional training for dispatchers after a 2019 report found Indigenous people were 4.6 times more likely to be stopped for a street check than white people, and that a Black person was 4.2 times as likely to be stopped.
"Street checks" are interactions with police that do not result in an arrest. The study examined officer activity from 2014 to 2017.
“When we saw that report, there was a group of five or six agents who got together to talk to see how we could make a difference,” said Loiseau. “We’re the first link in the chain.”
-- Published with files from CTV's Tania Krywiak
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
Keeping these exotic pets is 'cruel' and 'dangerous,' Canadian animal advocates say
Canadian pet owners are finding companionship beyond dogs and cats. Tigers, alligators, scorpions and tarantulas are among some of the exotic pets they are keeping in private homes, which pose risks to public safety and animal welfare, advocates say.
WATCH LIVE Toronto police to release updated list of most wanted fugitives in Canada
Toronto police and law enforcement partners will be releasing the BOLO program’s updated list of the top 25 most wanted fugitives in Canada at a news conference on Tuesday morning.
Prince William and wife Kate thank public for birthday messages for son Louis
Prince William and his wife Kate thanked the public for their messages which had been sent to mark the sixth birthday of their youngest son Louis on Tuesday.
She was the closest she'd ever been to meeting her biological father. Then life dealt her a blow
Anne Marie Cavner was the closest she'd ever been to meeting her biological father, but then life dealt her a blow. From an unexpected loss to a host of new relationships, a DNA test changed her life, and she doesn't regret a thing.
How quietly promised law changes in the 2024 federal budget could impact your day-to-day life
The 2024 federal budget released last week includes numerous big spending promises that have garnered headlines. But, tucked into the 416-page document are also series of smaller items, such as promising to amend the law regarding infant formula and to force banks to label government rebates, that you may have missed.
Fire engulfs old Edmonton municipal airport hangar
A historical hangar at the former Edmonton municipal airport beside the NAIT main campus was on fire Monday night.
RCMP uncovers plot to sell drones and equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a ploy to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Which foods have the most plastics? You may be surprised
'How much plastic will you have for dinner, sir? And you, ma'am?' While that may seem like a line from a satirical skit on Saturday Night Live, research is showing it's much too close to reality.