Black people face 'gross over-representation' in Hamilton police's use of force, data shows

A "gross over-representation."

That's the term Hamilton Police Service (HPS) is using to describe how often Black people in the city face a use of force by police officers, when compared to the size of the local Black population.

The comment is part of HPS's latest annual use of force report, which offers a statistical summary of how police used force in 2022.

The report, which will be discussed during an HPS board meeting on Thursday, says Black people were on the receiving end of 17.2 per cent of all use of force incidents in 2022 despite representing only five per cent of Hamilton's population.

The report says "use of force" refers to multiple scenarios, including a firearm drawn, pointed or discharged, the use of a baton, pepper spray or Taser, or physical force that resulted in an injury requiring medical attention.

The inclusion of race-based data started in 2020, as part of a provincial mandate, but this year's version appears to be the first time the report has included an analysis that considers how over-represented some populations are when it comes to those who experience police's use of force.

East and Southeast Asian people faced "gross over-representation" when it came to the use of force during arrests and apprehensions, while Black and Middle Eastern people were also "over-represented" in the same category.

"What we don't know right now is what internal and external factors are driving these disparities," said Chief Frank Bergen in a media release, adding the service is "committed to being at the table to understand and address these interactions."

He said understanding the numbers will need an approach that includes community leaders, academics, data experts and government institutions. 

Meanwhile, some community groups say the disparities are a result of discrimination.

"It's very disturbing," said Koubra Haggar, programs manager of Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion.

White people faced the highest number of use of force incidents, representing 333 of the 483 individuals identified in use of force reports. That's 68.8 per cent of all use of force incidents for a group that makes up 74.4 per cent of Hamilton's population.

There are limitations to the data collection process, including the fact officers have to record the race of people according to their perception of the person's race, and can only include the first three subjects involved in a situation.

They don't have an option to mark someone's race as "unknown."

The 2022 stats come as the number of hate incidents and hate-related criminal offences reported to police are higher than they've been since at least 2012.

When it comes to hate crimes, Black, Jewish and LGBTQ-identifying people were the most common targets.

That means Black people are the most common victims of hate in Hamilton, while also being the most over-represented group of people when it comes to police's use of force.

CBC Hamilton asked the police service for an interview on the use of force data ahead of Thursday's board meeting but didn't receive a response before publication.

Stats reflect community experience: advocates

Lyndon George, executive director of the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre, said the statistics "show and reflect the experience of Black communities in Hamilton when it comes to policing."

"These ongoing systemic uses of force when it comes to policing, particularly of the Black community, aren't new."

Haggar echoed those comments, pointing to recent instances of use of force against racialized people.

For example, last May, Acting Sgt. Brian Wren kicked and stomped an Indigenous man's head roughly 13 times during an arrest.

Wren has pleaded guilty to assault.

Haggar and Ameil Joseph, an associate professor in the school of social work at McMaster University, both said the report should have highlighted how systemic racism in institutions, like policing, plays a role in the over-representation of groups when it comes to use of force.

Joseph also said police should release this year's raw data, as it did in 2020 after requests from community advocates, which could allow for a deeper analysis.

Without that, he said the analysis may lead people to think over-represented groups are "more dangerous" and doesn't account for systemic issues.

CBC Hamilton asked the police service if it was releasing this year's raw data but didn't receive a response before publication. The police service shared the raw data online on Wednesday afternoon.

Haggar said the reported stats should also breakdown how many use of force incidents take place against youth.

George said the conversation about solutions needs to go beyond improved training and better recruitment.

He said it should be more focused on holding officers who disproportionately use force accountable.

Use of force is up compared to year prior

Police say there were 409 use of force reports in 2022, which falls within the average between 2018 and 2022, but is a jump from the 361 use of force incidents in 2021.

Of the 409 use of force reports, 23 involved animals.

The 386 use of force reports on people represent less than one per cent of all contacts police had with the public, police said.

Police say officers fired their guns 26 times, three of which were at people, pointed their guns 163 times and drew their guns 108 times, the latter being a record high since 2018.

There were 32 reports of police hitting "assaultive" people and 50 reports of police applying "joint locks" to people in 2022, both record highs since 2018, according to the data.

Weapons calls made up roughly 38 per cent of calls that involved use of force.

General patrol officers were involved in roughly 62 per cent of all use of force incidents, the data shows. Half of all use of force incidents involved officers who have spent five years or less with the police service.

Roughly 37 per cent of the time police used force on people with no weapons, leading to 178 reports.

Officers reported not knowing if someone had a weapon 114 times, roughly 23 per cent of the time.

The rest of the time, according to police, the person had access to a weapon, was carrying a weapon or police had information the person may have a weapon.

Most use of force incidents took place in the city's core, the data shows.

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