Winnipeg Police Service seeks diversity in online recruitment drive

Gettingfaces in a cruisercars to match the diversity on the streets will take time, but the Winnipeg Police Service is making it a goal.

The challenge is overcoming cultural differences, historical wrongs and a lack of trust inpolice from some members of Winnipeg's diverse communities.

The WPSmarkedthe City of Winnipeg's inaugural anti-racism week with the first of two online recruitment drives through Facebook.

At the beginning of the recruitment event, Insp.Bonnie Emerson told the online audience she agreed with Mayor Brian Bowman's statement the city's workforce needs to better reflect the community it serves.

"I believethat the police are the community, and the community is and should be reflected in your police service," Emerson said.

In theWPS 's most recentsurvey of the makeup of its1359 police officers, done in 2019,11.1 per centidentified as Indigenous,7.3 per centasvisible minorities,0.3 per centreported a disability and15.8 per centwerewomen.

Two officers presenting the onlinerecruitment answeredsome of the more commonplace questions from people considering policing as a career, such as educational requirements, physical testing and previous work and volunteer experience.

The service is hoping prospective candidates go through the information it provides online, then contact a recruiter directly for more information.

"We are trying to find out what those barriers are, and bring you in and have you be successful," said Const.Lisa Allison.

Overcoming history and building trust

With Winnipeg's Indigenous population at over 92,000 people in 2016 and growing, Damon Johnston knows having more members of his community on the police service is important and can build relationships.

Damon Johnston is the president of theAboriginal Council of Winnipeg and sits on the Winnipeg Police Board.

Johnston warns, however,there is a gulf between police and many Indigenous peoplethat starts on the streets when they see a patrol car drive by.

"The first thought in the young person's head, or anybody, even myself, [is] are they going to stop? Are they going to stop and ask me some questions?Or worse, ya know what I mean?" Johnston says.

Johnston says Indigenous communities had no tradition of policing similar to the European settlers in Canada. Indigenous peoplesstruggled for years under Canada's Indian Act and are still recovering from the effects of residential schools.

He says not only does the WPS need to adjust how it recruits for members from the Indigenous community, but also to clearly demonstrate once a candidate is hired that they are welcomedand protected within the service.

"How much are they willing to do to ensure that whoever is coming into that space feels safe? If they have to make a complaint, is it going to be dealt with Is it going to be dealt with or is it going to be just shoved under the carpet?" Johnston says.

Johnston says people of colourfromWinnipeg who are interested in becoming police officerswill check into how the service and its members treat staff already on the job.

Winnipeg Police service hopes to recruit more diverse officers

4 years ago

Duration 2:11

The Winnipeg Police Service marked the City of Winnipeg's inaugural anti-racism week with the first of two online recruitment drives through Facebook.