PRESS RELEASE: SNIWWOC’s Statement on The End of School Police Officer Liasion Program In SD61
MEDIA CONTACT
Joni Oldhoff
Support Network for Indigenous Women and Women of Color
203-2722 Fifth Street
Victoria BC V8T 4B2
joni@sniwwoc.ca
250-277-2545
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SNIWWOC’S STATEMENT ON THE END OF SCHOOL POLICE OFFICER LIAISON PROGRAM IN SD61
Victoria, B.C., Canada. Friday June 2 2023 : The Support Network for Indigenous Women and Women of Color (SNIWWOC) commends SD61 trustees on their decision to end the school police officer liaison (SPLO) program. As an organization serving black, indigenous and other racialized communities, we are no stranger to the accounts of police violence in Victoria and we know all too well the deep need for reform within policing across Canada as a whole.
We have collected feedback from our community on this issue since 2020 and wrote to the board on April 28 2023. SNIWWOC spoke at the SD61 board meeting on May 1 2023 to raise the following points:
a) Based on internal client data from our free counselling program, we know that many BIPOC kids are graduating from SD61 traumatized. As part of our intake process, we ask our clients why they are accessing this service. First and second hand impacts of racism and police violence are at the top of the list resulting in PTSD, hypervigilance, depression, and anxiety. Schools should be a place of safety not a reason for trauma.
b) The 2021 Greater Victoria Local Immigration Partnership Network Survey revealed that 30% of BIPOC residents have experienced racism from local police. 45% of residents disagreed that VicPD acts in a fair manner when dealing with racial, religious, and ethnic communities (2015, SOLID).
c) We do not think it is okay that a teacher or educational assistant goes through years of training to work with kids and youth, but a civilian who takes a 7 month course to become a police officer gets to interact with kids in an educational setting while carrying a gun. A police officer is not bound by the same restraint and physical contact policies that are enforced on school staff. SPLO's receive the same protections they do everywhere else so the consequences of bad behaviour is often non-existent. Based on the results of the 2022 SD61 SPLO survey report, dozens of respondents reported “negative” or “very negative” past interactions with SPLOs. Majority of these students identified as white and 2SLGBTQIA+.
d) VicPD's general occurrence reports from 2016 to 2021 do show them disproportionately policing BIPOC youth. 19.38% of people VicPD labeled as "Youth-Suspects'' in their general occurrence reports were Indigenous, even though Indigenous people make up only 5.04% of Victoria and Esquimalt's population. Black youth were 3.75 times as likely as white youth to show up in a VicPD general occurrence report as "Charged." We think it is fair to conclude that VicPD targets BIPOC youth. These harms are replicated when the school district provides police with access to schools.
e) Based on a Freedom of Information request, in 2017, 30% of 67 SPLO incident reports came from Esquimalt High School, which has a large demographic of BIPOC students. In 2019, VicPD submitted 128 incident reports for arrests at schools or on school property. Only 4% of 2017 SPLO incident reports indicate they may have begun with a student reaching out to an SPLO. This means that police enforcement is happening on SD61 property while the SPLO program is falsely advertised as a community policing tool focused on diversion from the criminal justice system. Armed police are not an appropriate student support or disciplinary response.
f) The Report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, on Systemic Racism In Policing In Canada it states “Given the pervasive nature of systemic racism in policing in Canada, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (the Committee) has concluded that a transformative national effort is required to ensure that all Indigenous, Black and other racialized people in Canada are not subject to the discrimination and injustice that is inherent in the policing system as it exists today.”
Every child deserves to feel safe and welcomed in school and in their community. We are pleased that SD61 trustees listened to the concerns of our clients, staff and community.
Background:
https://www.sniwwoc.ca/blog/2020/6/24/sd61-board-denies-motion-to-suspend-school-policing
https://www.needsmorespikes.com/other/2021/10/14/sd61-slo-review
SNIWWOC's mission is to support Black, Indigenous women, women of colour, youth and children to take greater control of their lives, providing culturally appropriate services in different languages. All of the programming is developed and delivered by BIPOC women. SNIWWOC offers: One-on-one free therapy, career planning, virtual workshops, wellness classes, peer support, free groceries and much more.