Research report prepared by: Dr. Sandra M. Bucerius ...

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The Somali experience in Alberta:

Interviews with members of the Edmonton Police Service on community outreach

strategies and their experiences with the Somali diaspora in Edmonton

Research report prepared by:

Dr. Sandra M. Bucerius, University of Alberta

Dr. Sara K. Thompson, Ryerson University

Katherine Hancock, M.A. (graduate student at the University of Alberta)

Funded by the Kanishka Initiative

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction Page 3

Methodology and Samples Page 4

Findings

Knowledge about the Somali community Page 5

General emphasis of policing Page 9

General thoughts on building relationships

with community members Page 11

The role of training Page 14

Relationship with the Somali community in Edmonton Page 16

Approach to policing radicalization 1

Items for change/Recommendations Page 23

Selected survey results from the Somali community

Biographical Information Page 28

Discrimination Page 30

Police Page 31

Issues in the Somali community Page 33

Questionnaire EPS officers Page 35

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Introduction

The findings presented in this executive summary are based on Phase 2 of a three-

year project entitled “The Somali Experience in Alberta: Hypermarginalization and

‘Places of Belonging’”. Phase 1 of this research involved in-depth interviews with which

301 Somali community members between the ages of 16 and 30 in Edmonton, Alberta

were asked a variety of questions covering personal background and immigration

information, along with integration experiences, experiences with Canadian institutions

and in mainstream society, family dynamics and gender roles, religious attitudes, issues

of concern within the community and, finally, perceptions of radical groups commonly

associated with the community (i.e. al Shabaab). In particular, the interviews with

Somali-Canadian youth and young adults were conducted between 2013 and 2015, and

though study participants do report negative views of the police, the data also show many

positive attitudes towards the police, as well as some hunger for more community

participatory policing initiatives (please refer to survey data document, attached).

Specifically, youth expressed support for community engagement activities in place of

more familiar, traditional policing or crime control strategies.

In Phase 2, police interviews with members of the Edmonton Police Services

(EPS) across all ranks and divisions were conducted from February until June 2015, to

examine the awareness of community outreach strategies within the organization, and to

identify best practices. In particular, the researchers were interested in learning about

members’ perceptions of which strategies and initiatives they felt were most effective in

building relationships and partnerships with diverse communities, with a particular focus

on those aimed at reducing the risk of violence and violent extremism within the Somali-

Canadian community.

The relationship between the Somali community and the Edmonton Police

Service has historically been tenuous, and was further undermined in the wake of a series

of homicides involving Somali victims between 2008 and 2011. Over this three year

period, at least 23 young Somali-Canadian men were murdered in Alberta (Wingrove &

Mackrael, 2012). An EPS homicide detective notoriously expressed frustration with the

community’s apparent lack of cooperation with police investigations in one particular

case, stating: “We know the individual in hospital knows who shot him, he won’t talk.

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We know there are other people inside who saw the suspect… Of all the people we

interviewed, one person provides a suspect description – absolutely ludicrous” (Earle,

2011). In response, community leaders countered that police were unduly paying

attention to race and ethnicity, and that attention ought to be placed on why some

community members feel afraid to come forward as witnesses.

Perhaps paradoxically, it is precisely this statement that many of the young

Somali Canadians we interviewed identified as the impetus for change in the relationship

between the community and the police. While a majority of young Somali-Canadians in

our sample still describes the relationship between community and police as “difficult”,

they also state that it has improved following the homicide detective’s public statement,

and the backlash – and dialogue - that ensued. For example, one of the young Somali-

Canadian study participants stated:

Initially, many people were outraged by this cop’s statement. But over time,

many also realized that he had a point. And I think for the cops it might have

been similar. So, maybe this was a point where the cops and some people in the

community moved…so maybe this statement, which I still think was

outrageous and racist, was necessary to get something going. And for that, it

was good that it was made. It changed things on both sides.

Methods and sample

In Phase 2 of the study, we conducted 57 in-depth interviews with sworn

members of the EPS across five police divisions (excluding South East). Our sample

drew from all ranks: we interviewed 23 Constables (Patrol, Beat, and SROs), 8 Sergeants,

5 Staff Sergeants, 7 Inspectors, 6 Superintendents, 1 Deputy Chief, and the Chief, as well

as 6 officers of unidentified rank (these officers asked not to have their rank mentioned in

the report). Only one respondent was female. To recruit officers for the interviews, the

lead researcher, Dr. Sandra Bucerius, presented the study at several EPS meetings, and

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worked closely with the Equity, Diversity, and Human Rights Section. Interested officers

followed up with the researcher via email and signed up for interviews.

Each interview consisted of 22 questions (questionnaire attached). Our interview

guide consisted of questions asking about topics such as police members’ knowledge of

Somali culture, experiences with the Somali community (both in a policing context and

more generally), sources of information on the community, training opportunities in

cultural sensitivity and radicalization detection, suggestions for areas of improvement,

and so forth. The average interview was 41minutes long, and the interviews ranged from

18 minutes to 92 minutes. The interview questions were largely informed by key themes

that emerged from interviews with young Somali-Canadians in Phase 1 of the research,

but also from interviews with sworn members at Toronto Police Service (who

participated in a related study), in order to best ensure that they were meaningful and

appropriate for the present research.

Interviews were conducted by one of the principal investigators, Sandra Bucerius,

and a graduate student research assistant. Both interviewers have extensive experience

conducting research on issues specific to Somali communities in Canada.

Findings

a) Knowledge about the Somali community

Across all ranks and divisions, our participants have a good general knowledge

about the Somali diaspora in Edmonton. When asked to identify key issues that the

community is facing, members predominately identified racism and discrimination, rather

than crime-related issues, which suggests a broad awareness of the disadvantaged

position the community occupies in Canadian society. When asked to identify crime-

related issues that affect members of the Somali-Canadian community, officers

predominately identified the same issues mentioned by our young Somali participants -

namely violent crime, gang-related activity, and domestic violence. In contrast to our

young Somali-Canadian study participants, who identified radicalization as a third key

concern in the community, EPS members by and large did not identify this issue as a key

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concern from their perspective. The majority of officers also identified negative

experiences with police in Somalia as a key reason why Somali community members in

Edmonton may view the police negatively. EPS members believe that negative

experiences with police in their home country significantly impacts their ability to gain

trust of community members in Edmonton.

Overall, the majority of officers did not have detailed knowledge about Somali

culture, religion, and migration/integration experiences. Most Constables were not aware

that Somalis are Muslim, however, most stressed that “I don’t care where you come

from, I treat everyone with respect.” The majority of Constables, including beat officers,

stressed that having more knowledge about the community would significantly help them

in their day-to-day interactions. For example, one officer described an example of how

his colleagues almost aggravated an arrest situation by not realizing why the person who

was under arrest was agitated and aggressive:

“I am at that arrest, and the guy is completely agitated. Freaking out and going nuts.

And my colleagues became increasingly concerned because here you have this guy

freaking out and becoming aggressive. And then I saw that the Quaran was lying on the

ground – the guy just wanted to pick it up. But my colleagues did not pick up on this,

because they don’t know the rules. So, he got to pick up the Quaran and was cooperating

after. Rules like that, we need to know them. No one teaches that stuff!”

Some interviewees described having received cultural competency training, but

they usually stated it was quite limited and not specific to Somali-Canadians. When asked

what training is available for sworn EPS members, officers often told us about online

programming of which they were aware, for example:

“It’s pretty generic multiculturalism. Like it’s diversity – they’ll use blanket terms like

“harassment in the workplace” and then they talk about the racial aspect and ethnic

aspect, so they are pretty broad scope-type workshops. I have never attended an EPS-

sponsored function with, “let’s talk about Somalians” [sic], and this type of training. It

would just be multiculturalism as a whole…”

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While officers articulated the perception that some cultural competency training was

forced upon them (the Aboriginal training day was often mentioned as example), by

management that feels they lack these competencies ( “do [management] “think [s] we’re

all that bad?”), most members argue that they (and their colleagues) are good people

with good intentions – and can therefore appreciate the value of such training. As such,

members reported that there would likely be less push back if training opportunities were

offered tactfully, and are described as something that might be beneficial to the members

themselves (in addition to being beneficial for community members):

“If they rammed [the training] down the guys’ throats saying, “You guys aren’t culturally

sensitive to Somalis, you need to take this training,” guys are going to push back saying,

“Screw that, we’re culturally sensitive to everybody.” But if they sold it in a different

manner that was less forceful and a little bit more just, “This is training we are going to

provide you so you can have some better interactions, help you deal with these people, it

might be a little bit more beneficial, right?”

Some of our interviewees described more recent cultural competency training

efforts, particularly in sections that manage the lion’s share of investigations involving

Somali-Canadian offenders, such as the Edmonton Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit

(EDGE). One Sergeant informed us that the current exchange of information related to

“East Africans or Somalis” mainly occurred between specialized units, and with one or

two members in the divisions with whom they share intelligence. To his knowledge, there

is no information sharing “between divisions and between gang unit and the frontline

guys. There’s no cultural awareness or anything like that… There’s no classes for our

guys. There’s no online stuff we can say, ‘Here’s [some information] about the Somali

culture.” There’s nothing to help with that.” Others vaguely remembered a training

opportunity made available to investigators responding to domestic assaults and “dealing

with Somalian [sic] community or Muslim community, kind of how they operate, how the

female is within the hierarchy within males.” From their recollection, this course was not

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intended to help in “bridging gaps with the community”, but rather had an investigative-

focus.

Beat officers, in particular, stressed that it would be helpful to receive knowledge

about communities (in general) before taking on a new beat. In particular, they mentioned

that:

“It makes no sense that we get assigned a new beat and then you have to start from

scratch. There should be a knowledge base. Information like: there are Somalis in your

beat, here’s training on that community. And details, like… here is how you can engage

people on that corner, here is something about the religion in that beat etc. If that

information could be easily accessible, it would make our lives a lot easier. We basically

need to learn everything on the job, a lot of trial and error.”

The great majority of lower ranking members agreed that they learn specifics about the

communities they work with on the job (rather than via formal training protocols), and

agreed that having more information about the communities that they predominately

interact with would save them from initial missteps. Members also expressed the

sentiment that you “can’t know everything about everyone”, however, they stressed that

information should be shared before being assigned a new district or beat. Having said

that, officers expressed differing opinions on how information should be shared. Some

indicated that they would prefer to receive more training days, whereas others believed

that an online data base that officers could access on a “need to know” basis would be

beneficial. Almost all members that we interviewed agreed that having a person to

contact about community-related questions would be very beneficial. While some already

have such contact person (either within the EPS or within the community), all but two of

the lower ranking members (we included Constables, Sergeants and Staff Sergeants in

this group) we interviewed expressed that having official contact persons for information

would be beneficial. About half of the members we interviewed knew whom to ask for

information or advice regarding a specific cultural group if need be (the EDHR Section

was mentioned several times), but the other half noted that they are “not sure” or “lost”.

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b) General emphasis of policing

The great majority of officers, across all ranks and divisions, agreed that the EPS

has a very strong community engagement/policing orientation. They see this supported

and pushed by their superiors, and particularly, the Chief of police. Building relationships

with community members is described as being “expected and nothing special. It’s a

basic aspect of our work.” As one interview participant pointed out, this orientation is

reflected in the service’s name change: “if you “look at the name of us, we used to be the

Edmonton Police Force now we’re the Edmonton Police Service, and that was a word

change, but it directs what you’re supposed to do.” Many of the higher ranking members,

but also members in the lower ranks with more experience on the job, view it as their

responsibility to communicate the service’s community policing mindset to new recruits.

That is, many talk about “guiding” younger members by example, and showing them that

they need to take time to build relationships in the community, and should therefore not

be overly concerned with meeting enforcement-based quotas. This community

engagement/policing orientation is understood to have long been something that sets the

EPS apart from other police organizations; some members explicitly stated that this is

why they wanted to work for EPS, as opposed to the RCMP, for example. A

Superintendent mentioned:

“Since I’ve been here there’s always been a push from the top down about community

engagement. Whether or not people buy into it is a totally different thing but it’s always

been made important by the senior leadership, always. I think we’re doing a good job

but we need more actions, not just words. I think it’s become a better job since we

started bringing people like Natasha [Goudar, from the Equity, Diversity, and Human

Rights Section] in.”

While all of the members we interviewed stressed that EPS is a community oriented

police service, about half of the members in the lower ranks, predominately Constables,

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mentioned that they have very little time to engage community members because “we

have to go from call to call to call”. While they understand the financial pressure the

organization is under (given the current economic climate, a fast growing city, and the

fact that the budget will not be increased despite having to serve more people), they stress

that they are under-resourced and over-worked:

“We are just putting out fires. One fire after the other. We’re like a fire department.

Don’t quote me on that, no one wants to be a firemen. But it jeopardizes police work. We

can’t do community policing when we run from fire to fire.”

The call for more Constables and, especially, Beat Officers was shared among ALL

lower-ranking members across all divisions, as was the fear that the current economic

situation will have a significant negative impact on community policing:

“We are already short on staff, we need so many more people on the ground with the city

expanding at the rate it does. We have made such positive strives in working with

communities, but if we don’t have more people in these positions, we won’t be able to

keep it up.”

Several officers drew a link between responding to high numbers of calls for

service and the effects this has on officers’ capacity for community engagement:

“If you are running from call to call, you are just stressed. We have to be at our best

because the people will always remember you, and we never meet them in good situation.

When the police show up, it’s a bad situation in your life. So, we have to be at our best.

But when you are just putting out fires, you can’t be at your best all the time”.

In terms of the EPS’s approach to policing, there is also a general understanding

among police officers that unreasonable use of force is not acceptable and will be

reprimanded. In total, only four members complained about this – in their opinion, “the

Chief does not understand what it means to work in the streets”, and is “out of touch with

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reality”. It should be noted that all four members who had a negative view about the

organization’s stance on use of force were relatively junior members within the first five

years of their policing career (research demonstrates that these are among the officers

who are most likely to justify the excessive use of force).

c) General thoughts on building relationships with community members

The overwhelming majority of participants emphasized that cultivating strong and

trusting relationships with community members is the pre-requisite for good police work

AND had concrete ideas as to how best to achieve this goal. More specifically, members

emphasized the importance of listening to and learning from community members

(including victims), and to adapt policing strategies to their recommendations and needs.

More importantly, members highlighted the importance of establishing relationships in

“good times”, before problems arise. It was stated several times that these bonds are the

pre-requisite for police work if and when problems arise. One member said this very

directly:

“The bad times will always roll around. Always. That’s why our real work is in the good

times. We need to make sure to work hard on our community ties in good times so that we

can work with the community TOGETHER when the bad times come”.

Equally important, officers stressed that using discretion in their dealings with

community members is important to build trusting relationships: “So, where I find you

drinking behind a back alley and I’m telling you to dump it out, as opposed to giving you

a ticket [or] dealing with you a little more aggressively than I might need to”. The officer

goes on to say that the trust can also be established through such things as

“exchang[ing]…information that I could use to arrest a big fish, right?” Demonstrating

their willingness to use discretionary decision making in ways that work to the benefit of

community members, also benefits police officers by extending their potential network of

contacts and informants, and encouraging cooperation from the public. The utility of this

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extends into furthering investigations. Recognition that communities could be valuable

allies in dealing with crime issues that they are similarly concerned about was expressed

by police members at each rank that we interviewed. The Chief articulated the value in

reaching out to communities as underutilized allies in preventing crime:

“We had a serious event in the Aboriginal community… they said, “why didn’t you call

us, because we could’ve helped you?” It was true…. [it] never even occurred to us… so I

think we’re more attuned to that now. If we have issues, that may not be just community,

but crime issues, that they can help us.”

When it comes to relationship building, members predominately talked

about showing that they actually care in their interactions with community members and

want to learn from them:

“I’m speaking personally, not on behalf of Edmonton Police Service, but what I’ve found

is trust can only be built on authentic caring and actually wanting to learn. Trust isn’t

built on the police educating the public. It’s on the police asking question of the public

and learning and growing.”

Depending on the division in which they worked, members had different ideas as

to how they could demonstrate their interest in, and concern for, the community. Those

officers who had more interactions with the Somali community in particular,

predominately in the Northeast and Downtown divisions, suggested that stopping by local

businesses to chat with owners is one way to build relationships. As one Beat Officer

stated:

“I make it a point to eat at that Somali restaurant every Friday. Even when I am not

hungry. You would not believe how many people now know me and share a little bit of

information here and there. This is what trust building is all about.”

In a similar vein, officers also stressed the importance of initiating contact and

conversation with citizens in their district or beat. For example, a Beat Officer recounts

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one such opportunity: “It could be as easy as getting a pair of shoes for a homeless guy.

We did that yesterday, actually. See a homeless guy on my beat, never seen him before,

black guy, no shoes. Just sitting there. Went and got a pair of shoes for him.” This

interaction allowed the officer to adjust his preconceived notion about the individual and

to gain a more accurate and nuanced understanding of the situation: “[We] talked for half

an hour after that. Turns out, he’s not a criminal… he got drunk the night before and

found himself in a park the next morning and someone beat the shit out of him.”

Officers in all divisions stressed the importance of School Resource Officers

(SROs) for building relationships with younger members of vulnerable communities,

including the Somali community. Some SROs stated that they are trying to teach classes

or coach sports teams at the schools they are responsible for, which gives them more and

better opportunities to engage with the youth “than just sitting in the office”.

The overwhelming majority of officers we talked to expressed that they wished

they had more time to engage in relationship building, which they essentially see as

“prevention work” (“I think you have to focus more on prevention than arresting

people”).

Only four officers of the officers that were interviewed expressed the belief that

relationship building is a “waste of time” and stemmed from the Chief’s belief “that

police are not social workers”.

Lastly: while the majority of members we interviewed agreed that EPS is a

community-oriented organization that is doing many things to build relationships with

community members, our sample – across ranks and divisions – also agreed that domestic

violence is the one area where EPS needs to improve. One officer, who does not work

and has never worked in the domestic violence unit, shared:

“I would say our community work is great when it comes to some crimes and some

aspects of the community. But we are terrible when it comes to domestic violence. We

need to work harder, create even stronger bonds so that victims feel comfortable in

telling us what they need. I’d say of all the areas, that’s probably the area where we have

to improve most. It’s not enough to put our most sensitive people in that unit. They need

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the support from the rest of us. We need to make sure that these bonds are already in

place when they start to deal with domestic violence cases.”

d) The role of training

All of the senior officers and most junior officers we interviewed stressed the

importance of training when it comes to understanding the importance of community

engagement and developing a community mindset in the execution of their duties. Part of

recruit training involves the completion of a community problem-solving initiative,

known as the SERA project. A Staff Sergeant explained that the intended impact SERA

is to “engrain in their head that they are more than just law enforcement.” Another

Sergeant echoed the importance of training and mentoring new recruits to develop

support for community policing:

“You have to train them. I think it’s police culture, cause most young cops want to get in

the car, and drive fast […] Car chases and bad guys, right? So you have to train them

that community policing is an important part of the job, so it’s got to be role modeled by

guys like me.”

Interestingly, this Sergeant believed that his experience in sections like tactical gave him

more credibility as a supporter of community policing approaches with other members, “I

come out of tactical, so I’ve got a good reputation. If someone like me who was the

pinnacle of high risk or high threat policing can say, this is really important to do, it adds

credibility for the guys.” In his perspective, drawing on personal experience as a basis for

adopting community policing methods, rather than referring to its support in research,

was more convincing for members: “When I first start talking about evidence-based

policing, the frontline cops, it was like I had an extra eye in my forehead […] But the

proof’s in the pudding, because once you start getting guys to do it, and they see that

crime’s going down, they buy into the system.”

This finding, which was expressed by other members as well, might inform

training practice. If personal “success stories” are more convincing to members than

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empirical studies and statistical findings, it could be useful for these officers to be

involved in training exercises, explaining how community policing methods have been

successful for them in the field. Alternatively, SERA projects and other initiatives that

provide opportunities for members to experience success through community policing

might have a significant impact in terms of generating buy-in for these approaches and

for the development of problem-solving skills to combat crime.

Training was often credited with gaining support for community policing

methods. A Sergeant described recruit training: “We have a discussion, get them to think

about why [community engagement] is important as a police officer […] Why do you

believe this is important from a police perspective?” In this training session, the Sergeant

explains that the goal is to help members realize that feeling comfortable reaching out to

the community is important for police, but it is also crucial that the reverse be true: that

the public feels comfortable reaching out to the police. Also in that session, there is a

“discussion on problem solving as a police officer, as opposed to just report taking,”

since “you can’t arrest your way out of every problem.”

Indeed, the more experienced officers generally conveyed the belief that

traditional police work was not the answer for every call or situation they face:

“What I’ve come to see over my years is a lot of times, people don’t need police officers.

They just need people who care. So when I have recruits, I always tell them: it takes the

first year to figure out how to wear a uniform and be that presence, and you spend the

rest of your career trying to make people forget you’re wearing one…”.

Indeed, many officers stated the importance of exposing recruits to homeless

shelters and other resources in order to give them insight into the reality that many

community members face: “They get a little bit of a better or a broader perspective of

the homeless people.” Many also reported that training initiatives that gave them

opportunities to meet, speak with, and ask questions of community members (which they

referred to as “speed dating”) significantly helped them to check their own stereotypes

about certain community members:

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“And this kind of training is huge. Because it really helps to give you a deeper

understanding of different communities. For me, for example, I really learned a lot about

Islam. I remember speaking to that Muslim woman about why she wears a hijab and it

just gave me a totally different perspective. I think it made me a better officer. […] Or my

conversations with the member of the LGBTQ community. It made me aware of all the

victimization in that community. I just had no idea.”

Overall, our data show a significant disconnect between senior and junior EPS

members when it comes to awareness of training possibilities and opportunities to

interact with the Somali community in Edmonton. Please refer to the “items for change”

section at the end of this document for more on these issues.

e) Relationship with the Somali community in Edmonton

In the introduction, we discussed the infamous statement made by a homicide

detective, who was perceived to be criticizing the Somali community for their lack of

cooperation in homicide investigations. The EPS members we spoke to identified this

statement and this general time period as pivotal in shaping how the EPS would respond

and deal with diverse communities with whom relationships had traditionally been

strained. Some of the members that we interviewed felt that the police were (at least)

partly responsible for this strained relationship (“I think you have to be open and honest,

and we haven’t been perfect in our interaction with the Somali community”). Others

referred specifically to the homicide detective’s comments (“I’m fully aware of a

homicide investigation where comments were made and, probably, inappropriate,

politically incorrect”), and still others gave accounts of this period in the EPS’s history:

“I don’t think [Somali community relations with the police] could have gotten much

worse than that… It was a New Year’s Day homicide I think, right? There’s well over 50

to 60 witnesses... Everybody says “I didn’t see anything”. I think that was probably our

low point as an organization in dealing with the Somali community, even in the way that

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he handled it, PR-wise, to the media. That really was the epiphany that the Service had to

start breaking down the gaps between the African communities and the police. So I think

from that point we’ve gotten better because of the efforts that have been put in.” An

Inspector described a marked shift in the EPS’s general approach following this “really

bad year”, which underscored for many that effective investigations require community

participation, which itself required improved relationships with Edmonton’s diverse

communities:

“The strategy of us really reaching out was the change because we were playing the big

bad cop. Here’s my notebook, and we’ll solve it type thing, you know. But now, what

we’re saying is that we can only solve this with your help, and so we’re reaching out to

you… we’re reaching out to the communities. And then, same token, let’s build

relationships so we can come up with some strategies and some programs on how to be

safe, let’s deal with your youth, what’s going on. So that’s how this is all started, it just

evolved.”

Others echoed this sentiment, but expressed that while senior members/management are

striving to remedy the relationship between the Somali community and police, these

efforts may not be as far along as they might think: “They’ve definitely had a concerted

effort from management to bridge that gap. Whether it has translated itself down to the

street, I’m not so sure… there is still animosity with the members and the guys they are

arresting.” Many officers explained that while the Service’s membership is, overall,

more culturally aware now than before, there are still tensions and misunderstandings that

arise between the community and police. For example, one officer stated that some

members have, “the perception that [Somali-Canadians] just pretend they don’t speak

English, they’ll lie about their names.” Another revealed that this concern and wariness

about being deceived is occasionally founded, “they do lie about their names and they

are pretending they don’t speak English and all these types of things. So we do run into

these types of things. So those stereotypes aren’t gone by any stretch of the imagination.”

However, he states the caveat that “they are not all like that”, and it’s through interacting

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with the community that the police can challenge stereotypical perceptions of the

community that they may hold.

The described discordancy between senior members’ and (some) patrol

Constables’ perspectives about the amount of progress made in relationships with

Edmonton’s Somali-Canadian community might be partially explained by the different

segments of the community with whom they interact. Specifically, one Superintendent

we interviewed explains the difference: “Being a Superintendent, I go after the leaders…

I think our Constables and others would do a bottom-up approach, but we all have

different roles”. “White shirt” members are, by virtue of their rank, more apt to adopt a

“top-down approach” to evoking change within the community and police, because they

tend to interact primarily with community leaders and stakeholders. Community leaders

are less likely to be marginalized within the community (and, possibly, within broader

society), than those persons with whom Patrol Constables interact when responding to

calls for service. Further, at the management level, members are more likely to interact

with persons who choose to work with the police and who have not been recently

victimized or (suspected of) committing crime. On the other hand, Patrol Constables are

more likely to engage with members of the community who were either recently

victimized, or criminally-involved in some way, or whose interaction with an EPS

member my not be by choice. When asked who in the community might be best suited to

collaborate with the police, a downtown Constable expressed this very sentiment when he

said:

“I think maybe bringing in some of the older, the parents, into it and involving them

somehow might help, because I think the older Somali community has maybe a different

respect than the younger ones have.” The younger members of the Somali-Canadian

community who may already have experiences with the criminal justice system were

more challenging, “The younger ones on 107 Ave that we deal with all the time, very few

of them have respect for, it seems, anything. They’re not afraid of the criminal justice

system. They’re not afraid of us coming to arrest them. Nothing really deters them, it

seems.”

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If Patrol Constables are predominantly interacting with persons who are dealing with the

criminal justice system and not by choice, it is not surprising that they may have a less

favourable assessment of the community than more senior-level police officers. Although

interacting with parents might seem like a promising plan to positively impact at-risk

youth in the community, this is not a simple task: “It’s tough for us too because a lot of

them are over eighteen so we can’t bring parents into it.” A member of the Public Safety

Compliance Team corroborated this belief about differences in interacting with younger

and older members of the community:

“There’s less hostility with the older folks so if we go down into a - I can remember one

we went to on 118th avenue east of 97th street, I forget what the name of it was, but we

went down and everybody was jovial and happy, and, I mean, they were all smoking

cigarettes inside, so we had to give them a smack, “guys, you can’t,” but they were good

about it, and there wasn’t that hostility right off the hop. But when you go into a place

where it’s all eighteen, nineteen, twenty-one year olds, yeah, absolutely there’s that

initial hostility until you overtly break down those barriers.” He insisted that it was the

responsibility of the police to initiate friendly interactions to “break down barriers”,

“that’s not them breaking them, that’s us smiling and going up and shaking hands… If we

stayed there, and we didn’t interact with any of the patrons, it wouldn’t change - they

would want us to leave.” Thus, while this may be a difficult task, members expressed

some optimism about the potential to improve relationships with the community,

including with its younger members.

Interestingly, some Community Liaison Constables had divergent views, and

believed that youth were more apt to change their perspectives on the police. One

Constable referred to his military experience abroad, stating that long-term efforts were

necessary to create connections. Admittedly, his stance was not based on experiences

with the Somali community in particular, but he applied his observation that older people

tend to become more set in their ways, to his approach to policing, “If we have an

opportunity for the young people to grow up in a state where there is no hate and there is

peace, then there is an opportunity for us to make a change. And I feel that if we can

connect with our youth, which is so important, then that change can happen.” Some

20

others shared the belief that although senior police members had access to community

board members and stakeholders, connecting with youth was most critical. One sergeant

asserted that, “You really got to get into the community, to the young people on a one-on-

one basis,” and he felt that Constables were more equipped to accomplish this goal:“it’s

more Constable to young person or Constable to someone in the community, rather than

Superintendent or president of the Somali Association.” This sentiment is in keeping with

our data from interviews with Somali youth and young adults in Edmonton (Phase 1 of

this study), which suggests that young people want more interactions and relationships

with the police. A youth Chief’s advisory council was mentioned by community

members multiple times to bridge the gap and build relationships between the police and

young community members, but to also work around a widely perceived disconnect

between older and younger community members (as described by our Somali Canadian

participants in Phase 1 of this project).

Of all EPS members interviewed for this research, three officers expressed

negative perceptions of the Somali-Canadian community in Edmonton. All three were

younger officers working in patrol functions. In attempting to explain why some of his

colleagues have a negative outlook on the Somali community, one EPS member said “I

know now, in Edmonton in 2015, in the downtown core, [the Somali community is] the

problem. They are the problem. I don’t want to say problem, but they are the troubled

community… they have a spotlight on them.” Negative perceptions of the community

may influence why some officers initiate contact with Somali-Canadians, and the

subsequent tone of these interactions. A downtown division Constable we interviewed

raised this concern:

Cst: “I guess in the end when you go through it so many times, and you have this

kind of interaction a lot of times, it kind of affects you … in the future you go in

there thinking sometimes it’s just going to be negative before you even get there.

You can have that attitude in your head, I guess.”

Interviewer: And do you think that attitude, because of prior history, affects

the interaction right off the bat?

Cst: I think it probably could have a big impact on it, yeah.

21

For this reason, community policing approaches which encourage police to interact with

the public in a capacity other than law enforcement may provide Patrol Constables with

the opportunity to develop a more nuanced and diverse understanding of the Somali-

Canadian population than what traditional policing allows.

f) Approach to Policing Radicalization

Approximately 2/3rds (39 of 57) of the members we interviewed had ideas about how to

police radicalization, whereas 18 members mentioned that they “had no idea”. Whether

or not members had thoughts on policing radicalization strongly correlated with rank

within the EPS; higher ranking officers tended to have concrete ideas, while lower

ranking members, on average, were not sure how to tackle radicalization. Those who did

express ideas on policing radicalization (from various stations of within the rank

structure) acknowledged that traditional policing tactics will not detect radicalization and

that “infiltrating communities” is not an option to learn about radicalization (the language

of “infiltrating communities” was used by 6 members of 39 members who offered ideas

on policing radicalization). Moreover, most members seem to recognize that having the

trust of the community is crucial to learning about radicalized or radicalizing individuals.

Lastly, members expressed awareness that Somali family members are just as afraid of

radicalization as are the general public.

When asked about strategies to police radicalization, building stronger

relationships with communities was mentioned as the primary policing tool. As one

member expressed: “If we don’t have the trust of the community, we have nothing.”

Educating families on the sorts of things that might be associated with radicalization was

mentioned as another strategy, in the hopes that “they will reach out when their kid is

getting into bad stuff”. Higher ranking members discussed the importance of tackling the

media has played an important role in establishing a more trusting relationship with the

community (by that they meant to work closely with the media to ensure that coverage is

more balanced and did not include inflammatory or labeling language). For example, it

22

was mentioned that the Muslim community and Jewish community were contacted before

al-Shabaab’s threat to attack WEM was released to the public, in order to give them

enough lead time to prepare public statements that denounced al Shabaab and their call

for attacks. Lastly, the majority of those who expressed ideas on how to police

radicalization mentioned the importance of engaging youth as the primary target of

radical groups. This very much reflects what we have learned from our interviews with

the community as well.

Members also discussed what they knew about why people become radicalized

and/or support radical groups. The majority of members identified a search for belonging

as a primary reason as to why youth and young adults may join gangs or radical groups,

and many stated that they see no difference between the attractions that gangs and radical

groups may hold. While this reflects some of the current knowledge base on

radicalization, it is important to emphasize that there are other key reasons for supporting

or joining radical groups, such as political grievances (for example, present in the Tamil

community when supporting the LTTE).

Some senior officers stressed the importance of looking at behaviour change in

individuals, and the need for collaboration with other professionals who are in close

contact with young people (be it a teacher, a social worker, a coach) in order to identify

youth at risk. These members pointed out that creating a HUB model would be important,

because such models aim to identify situations of “acutely elevated risk” before they

become incidents. However, members cautioned that it is not necessary to re-invent the

wheel: there are a number of successful Canadian HUB models currently in operation

that could serve as a template for the implementation of a HUB in Edmonton. Others

were quick to point out that a HUB model is only beneficial for those young people that

have been identified as “at risk”. As such, and while the HUB model may play an

important role in countering radicalization, it should be accompanied by programs aimed

at building resilience “further upstream”.

23

ITEMS FOR CHANGE AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1) Training-Related issues.

a) Leveraging Technology

One of the most crucial points that came through in our data is that officers do not

necessarily know whom to contact when having questions about community related

questions. While EDHR was mentioned by some, not everyone knew any details about

the section or people who work there. While it is important to have the dedicated area of

internal support and resources that characterize the EDHR section, EDHR’s effectiveness

would be significantly increased by decentralizing its goals throughout the organization,

whereby EDHR practices become embedded on all aspects of policing and embedded

into the fabric of police culture. In particular, the great majority of officers also expressed

the need for contact points within their respective divisions, in fact, they would prefer

calling a person over watching information videos or looking into computer data bases.

This highlights the need for decentralizing the responsibilities of EDHR to the different

divisions, to sustain and maintain its work. A related consideration involves leveraging

the technology that officers have on their person (or in their police vehicles) at all times.

More specifically, the EPS might consider the creation of an “Our Diverse Communities”

website or app, with links to information pages for specific communities. Each page

could provide a brief overview of “need to know” information about a given community,

including the basic cultural competencies that are most relevant to respectful interactions

with community members (for example, taking off one’s shoes when entering someone’s

home, various religious accommodations and considerations, information that would

24

assist officers to better understand and assist specific refugee/newcomer populations –

such as trauma, PTSD, mistrust of state-based institutions, etc.).

13 of the Constables interviewed stated that having a guide or reference on

cultural differences would make them more confident as EPS members, for example, “I

don’t want to bring the EPS into disrepute… so when I’m dealing with those cultures or

those cultural differences… I just really need somebody to say this is what you’re going

to do, this is what you’re not going to do.” These Constables felt that there weren’t

enough resources currently available that could provide that information, and thought that

this would be useful.

b) Diversity of Training Methods (more dynamic and engaging, community-based

instructors in addition to police instructors; workshop-type sessions in addition to

straight up, traditional lectures.

In addition to standard training protocols that involve a lecturer or are web-based,

members commonly expressed a desire for more dynamic training methods. A Staff

Sergeant describes two roundtable sessions that the EPS organized with representatives

from the Somali-Canadian community. Police who were most integrated in the

community (e.g., Beat Constables, Community Liaison Constables, Community

Sergeants) went through a question period with elders from the Somali-Canadian

community where they could raise primary concerns and areas of improvement for the

police. This was followed by another session a couple of months later, where the EPS led

the discussion and, “turned the tables - where we said, “this is how we want the Somalian

[sic] people to improve relationships with the police””. Together, both sides were able to

communicate their viewpoints and discuss how they wanted to move forward with one

another. This type of engagement was mentioned several times as good example for the

training of officers and as trust building exercise.

25

While senior officers were aware of many outreach programs and strategies,

junior members in the EPS were not necessarily aware that these committees existed, and

if they were, the majority did not know what the purpose of these initiatives where.

Junior members also commented that spaces for interaction and learning about the

Somali-Canadian community are mostly just “open to senior, “white shirt” members of

the Service, which could account for some members being seemingly less aware of the

exact purposes. We would encourage improved communication to junior members about

the diversity of training protocols and initiatives that are available to them, and build-in

some incentive attending (for example, building in performance measures that recognize

and reward participating in these sorts of initiatives).

When asked to recommend improvements to existing training, the overwhelming

majority of junior members expressed that they would like to see more workshops and

meetings that included community members and police, where they could “hash it out,

see where the problems are.” The members we interviewed generally stated that they felt

they could learn from community members: “When you asked me what I knew about the

Somali community, I don’t know anything – just off of what I deal with on a daily basis.

So I don’t know what their culture is like. I don’t know what goes on in Somalia. What

the history in Somalia is like. It would be good to know that so you can at least, when you

deal with these kids, you can at least say I’m not an expert but I can empathize.” Or

“Even just by sitting down and listening to people, you can get a real sense for where

they are coming from. And just giving them the respect and showing them that you want

to learn and that you are willing to work with them, I think that goes a long way.”

Officers predominately expressed the wish that training should be run by

appropriate teachers, meaning members of the Somali community and Imams, for

example. For example, one Constable expressed the irony that training was offered by

white officers: `“There were a couple of training days where we talked about, or we had

white (ironic emphasis) officers come in and talk to us about the African community,

right (laughs)? “My experience with the African community…”” or “Why not invite an

26

African community member when talking to us about that community?” This point also

speaks to the need for greater diversity in terms of training methodologies, as above.

Overall, most members seemed to prefer training that had take-away messages

which could be directly applied, “You know, just even like, you know taking our shoes –

what it means for a Muslim to walk into their house with their shoes on, your boots, and

how that affects the whole file.”” Although several officers clarified that knowing

cultural traditions may not result in changed behaviour (i.e., taking off shoes when

entering a Muslim home), it could prompt members to be apologetic or explain

themselves when they enter homes (“Not that we’re going to take our shoes off, we’re

really not going to do that, but we have to be sensitive to it.” Or “At least we could then

acknowledge that we are aware of the problem and explain why we can’t behave

differently. It would go far.”).

2. Young social entrepreneurs

Interviews conducted in both Phase 1 (with young Somali-Canadians living in

Edmonton) and Phase 2 (with EPS members) highlighted a common desire for more and

better interaction between both groups. It is recommended that the EPS a) continue with

and expand their community policing and outreach initiatives; and b) strive to engage

with a broader representation of Edmonton’s diverse communities (i.e. not just self-

professed community leaders and stakeholders). This could be accomplished via the

principles of asset mapping – for example, compiling a list of young ‘social

entrepreneurs’ (i.e. young community leaders and advocates) that are willing to work

with the police in mutually beneficial ways. A similar list was compiled for a related

research project in Toronto, and all of the young Somali-Canadians on that list were

subsequently contacted and invited to participate in a number of forums aimed at

establishing trust and collaborative relationships to bolster resilience in their community.

27

3. HUB Model

A number of members expressed their desire to see the HUB model implemented

in Edmonton. Amid growing concerns over the cost and impact of reactive policing,

police organizations in Canada and elsewhere have increasingly turned their attention to

coordinated, proactive interventions that identify and attend to risks before incidents

occur. One of the most prominent models currently gaining traction is the “HUB”, an

evidence-based problem solving approach that draws on the combined expertise of

relevant community agencies to improve a broad set of social outcomes, including (but

not limited to) reducing crime, violence and victimization. Recently, some HUBS have

incorporated a CVE (countering violent extremism) function into their operations that

aim to identify and provide interventions for persons at varying stages of the

radicalization process (i.e. from the ‘pre-criminal’ space through to disengagement from

violence/post-prison programming). The Hub involves regular meetings involving front

line professionals representing multiple social service agencies. It organizes and

mobilizes the local community, and provides a venue for the exchange of information and

sharing of knowledge, resources and services among participating organizations and

agencies. The end goal of the model is to encourage and support systemic reform,

improved social services, and social development that will have a sustainable effect on

community safety, security and wellness. There a number of HUBs currently in operation

in various Canadian jurisdictions that could serve as templates for the implementation of

the model in Edmonton, and the evaluations that have been conducted to date suggest that

they are not only effective at identifying and attending to “upstream risk”, but that they

are highly effective from a cost-benefit perspective.

28

Drs. Sandra M. Bucerius/ Sara K. Thompson

TABLE 1

Selected Survey Results – Somali-Canadian Youth and Young Adults in Edmonton

(n=301), between the ages of 16-30. Collected between April 2013 and July 2015.

a) Biographical/education/religion

Sex

% Male 52%

% Female 48%

Age

Mean age = 18 years

% 14-18 61%

% 19-24 39%

Marital Status

% Single (never married) 96%

% Married (including common-law) 4%

Childless

% Yes 98%

% No 2%

Education

% Elementary school 1%

% Some high school 40%

% High school graduate 48%

% Some college/university 10%

% College/university graduate

% Graduate degree 1%

Level of Education Hope to Attain

% High school graduate 1%

% Some college/university 10%

% College/university graduate 34%

% Graduate degree 55%

Born in Canada

% Yes 85%

% No 15%

29

Strength of cultural belonging

% Very strong 48%

% Somewhat strong 36%

% Not strong 14%

% Don’t know 2%

Proportion of friends of Somali background

% All of them 5%

% Most of them 85%

% Some of them 10%

% None of them 0%

Religion

% Muslim 100%

How religious are you? % Religious/Very religious 51%

% Somewhat religious 49%

% Not religious 0%

Participation in religious activities/services/meetings over last 12 months

% At least once a week 48%

% At least once a month 30%

% Once or twice a year 11%

% Never 7%

% Don’t know/No response 4%

Growing up, lived with

% Mother 14%

% Father 1%

% Mother and Father 85%

30

b) Discrimination

Perception that Somali Canadians are discriminated against in Canadian society

% Often 12%

% Sometimes 45%

% Rarely 27%

% Never 7%

% Don’t know 9%

Places where discrimination occurred (Note that respondents could indicate multiple

spaces of discrimination, these percentages refer to the proportion of responses that

included that site, not the proportion of respondents).

% Public spaces (street, store, bank, restaurant) 41%

% School 33%

% Work/applying for work/promotion 28%

% Police/courts 20%

% Not specified 2%

Members of society that have discriminated against you in the past 12 months

Note that respondents could indicate multiple members, these percentages refer to the

proportion of responses that included that particular actors, not the proportion of

respondents

% Teachers/professors 38%

% other school/college staff 42%

% co- workers 34%

% employers 28%

% members of the general public 44%

% police officers 22%

31

c) Police

Police are responsive to issues concerning the Somali-Canadian community in

Edmonton

% Strongly Agree 7%

% Agree 27%

% Neutral/No opinion 40%

% Disagree 20%

% Strongly Disagree 6%

Police effectively deal with these issues

% Strongly Agree 7%

% Agree 21%


% Disagree 25%


Police are NOT able to maintain order in the Somali-Canadian community in

Edmonton

% Strongly Agree 11%

% Agree 31%


% Disagree 23%


Police in Edmonton treat Somali-Canadians fairly


% Agree 21%


% Disagree 22%


Police in Edmonton treat Somali-Canadians worse than other minority groups


% Agree 26%


% Disagree 31%


Police are doing everything they can to engage with the Somali community in

Edmonton


% Agree 12%


% Disagree 24%

% Strongly Disagree 17

32

Interested in building stronger partnerships with the police in Edmonton


% Agree 42%


% Disagree 4%


33

d) Issues in the Somali community

Clan factionalism is a problem in the Somali-Canadian community


% Agree 36%


% Disagree 6%


Somali-Canadians in Edmonton suffer from a lack of integration in Canadian

society


% Agree 31%


% Disagree 16%


Unsolved homicides is an issue that the Somali-Canadian community is facing


% Agree 26%


% Disagree 10%


Violence is an issue that the Somali-Canadian community is facing


% Agree 36%


% Disagree 4%


Negative experiences at school is an issue that the Somali-Canadian community is

facing


% Agree 33%


% Disagree 7%


A difficult relationship with police is a key issue that the Somali-Canadian

community is facing


% Agree 43%


% Disagree 9%

% Strongly Disagree 5

34

A high divorce rate is a key issue that the Somali-Canadian community is facing


% Agree 26%


% Disagree 18%


Unemployment is a key issue that the Somali-Canadian community is facing


% Agree 35%


% Disagree 22%


Radicalisation is a key issue that the Somali-Canadian community is facing


% Agree 24%


% Disagree 17%


Racism is a key issue that the Somali-Canadian community is facing


% Agree 32%


% Disagree 16%


35

Questionnaire EPS officers

1. What, if anything, do you know about the Somali community in Edmonton?

2. Where/how did you learn about the Somali community in Edmonton?

3. What, if anything, have you learned about the Somali community on the job?

4. From your perspective, have you identified problems within the Somali

community? If yes, please identify the concerns that you think are key.

5. Do you think the EPS is doing some outreach/community-building work with

the Somali community?

o If so, what kind of outreach/community building do you know of?

6. What are your thoughts on enforcement versus non-enforcement units in

terms of community policing?

7. Have you experienced or observed any discriminatory or racist treatment of

community members by police officers?

8. A lot has been said about trust between ethno-cultural communities and the

police. Do you believe that building trust between the police and ethno

cultural communities is important for effective policing? If so, why/why not?

9. What are some of the effective strategies that the EPS is putting into place to

build and maintain trust with the Somali community?

10. In what kinds of situations do you commonly come into contact with a Somali

person or group in Edmonton? Is there a particular segment of the Somali

population you’re most likely to have contact with?

11. Is there anything different in your style of policing/are there specific

considerations put into place when interacting with the Somali community?

12. What, in your experience, are the most effective strategies you currently

employ when doing cross cultural police work (generally speaking, not just

with respect to the Somali community)

13. From your perspective, what strategies are most effective when interacting

with and policing the Somali community?

36

14. Which, if any, gender-specific issues are you aware of within the Somali

community? That is, do Somali women and men/boys and girls face different

kinds of problems, particularly with respect to criminal victimization and

offending?

15. Do you know of strategies that work better when dealing with Somali women

versus men? Please identify them.

16. Do you employ different strategies depending on whether you are dealing

with younger or older members of the Somali community (compared with

older Somalis)? What strategies have you found to be most effective with

younger/older community members?

17. Do you employ different strategies dealing with Somali youth than with

youth more generally (i.e. non-Somali youth)? Please identify them.

18. When entering a Somali home, do you put certain considerations into place

that are specific to cross cultural policing in that community?

19. In Somalia, the Somali community is split along clan lines. Do you believe

these clan factions also play a role in Edmonton and in your police work? If

so, in which ways?

20. Have you received any kind of training or participated in a workshop on how

to best engage with the Somali community? If so, what did you learn?

21. Three topics that our sample highlighted as problems of their community are

the drug dealing and gang activity, family violence, and recruitment to radical

organizations, such as al-Shabaab. Is this in line with your experiences from

the policing perspective??

22. Recruitment to radical organizations often happens behind closed doors. Do

you believe that the EPS has effective strategies to become informed about

radicalization in the community? If so, what would be the strategies that

work best, in your opinion? If not, which strategies do you believe would

have to be implemented to get a better sense of radicalization in the

community?

Research report prepared by: Dr. Sandra M. Bucerius ...

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