Regina police chief says Indigenous relations have 'come a long way' in Saskatchewan

Reports this week that found systemic racism is prevalent at police forces in both Toronto and Thunder Bay, Ont. rings familiar to Evan Bray.

The Regina Police Services chief has spent his entire career with the organization. Twenty years ago, that police force came under intense scrutiny for its relationship with Saskatchewan's Indigenous communities.

This week, three reports criticizing both Toronto and Thunder Bay police were released. An interim report from the Ontario Human Rights Commission found that black people in Toronto are nearly 20 times more likely than white people to be fatally shot.

In Thunder Bay, Ontario's independent police watchdog found that "racist attitudes" contributed to poor investigations into the deaths of several Indigenous people.

Speaking with Cross Country Checkup host Duncan McCue on Sunday, Bray says his police department has largely overcome the criticism, improved its relationship with Indigenous peoples, and believes other others can better support diverse communities.

Here's part of that conversation:

What was your reaction when you heard the conclusions from the independent review about racism in the Thunder Bay police service?

I don't have a lot of knowledge about the Thunder Bay police service but I think I can certainly understand some of the challenges that that community is dealing with.

In Saskatchewan, we have had, what I would say, is a really lengthy history of not always having a smooth road. We've had some bumpy roads when it comes to allegations of racism or wrongdoing and really fractured relationships with Indigenous people in our province.

I'm not going to say it's perfect now, but we've definitely come a long way over the last couple of decades.

When you're applying to be promoted within the Regina Police Service … the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action are a part of what you're studying.- Evan Bray, Regina Police Services chief

And certainly in the early 2000s, for people who don't remember, it came to light about Starlight tours, and that's the police taking folks — Indigenous men, typically — out into the outskirts of town in the middle of winter and leaving them there.

There was the Neil Stonechild inquiry, again, on that kind of issue. What's it like to be inside a police service that's facing that kind of criticism at that time?

I think it's really challenging and you're opening yourself up for, really, a dialogue that's very tough to have, because when you're having those types of discussions — and in the early 2000s there was lots of challenges in policing — there was also a lot of incredible work that was happening in policing in the province of Saskatchewan.

But this cloud was hanging over top and really I think it just took leaders in our police services and all of our members in the province to step up and say, 'Look, we want be better; we need to be better.'

Even in those cases where it's perception, because often we know perception can be reality.

Better at what, Chief Bray? What were some of the issues that Regina Police needed to address back then?

I think it really started with fundamentally building relationships and that includes a lot of things I've heard you talk on your show in the last little bit about. Everything from recruiting strategies to investigative techniques and building relationships in the community.

It's not one thing. It can't be just building relationships in the absence of other sort of learning and understanding. It's got to be so much deeper than that and it's got to be throughout the entire organization.

Police services today not only have police members — sworn police officers — but civilian police personnel make up a big portion of our police services as well.

We need to understand that even something that is non-verbal could give a message to the person that we're interacting with that might not be favourable.- Police Chief Evan Bray

We've heard some callers talk about ... it's described as microaggressions. So, you know, a cop who just gives you that look, right? Or says some disparaging kind of comment. Is that something that you saw in the police force back a couple decades ago, and do you tackle that kind of thing?

Yeah. I think that exists in lots of police services and the reality is that police officers often are in situations where they have to make a quick decision and they have to act on instinct.

People in the community, when they are encountering a police officer, will also have a perception about the way that officer is looking at them. Are their arms crossed? How are they perceiving me? And I think we need to be aware of that.

As police officers, we need to understand that even something that is non-verbal could give a message to the person that we're interacting with that might not be favourable, and I think especially that is heightened when you're dealing with people that are of a minority, maybe part of a different culture or First Nations people, I think is a great example, as well.

There's talk sometimes about the blue wall and how police will back each other — and for good reason — but I wonder, how would you characterize the resistance to change within your community of police officers when you were trying to bring about these changes?

I have to say I think it was positive. I think we saw the fracture in the community and I think most officers understood there was a need for this.

A lot of times it comes with just acknowledging that there's a need for change and, again, I talk a lot about perception versus reality because sometimes reality is a problem and we need to change it.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Click listen above to hear the full interview with Regina Police Services chief Evan Bray.