Canada’s police chiefs are calling on all levels of government to provide more funding and manpower to deal with the growing number of protests across the country.
The request was part of a resolution released at the 119th annual summit of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) in Halifax Aug. 11–13. The gathering looked at the impact that global conflicts are having on Canadian communities from a policing perspective.
“During the Summit, delegates attended sessions on strategic intelligence, public order management, crisis management, artificial intelligence, as well as the importance of officer safety in public safety,” stated Chief Don MacLean of the Halifax Regional Police.
Police chiefs at the summit also concluded that protests are quickly moving from peaceful demonstrations to “more high-risk situations,” CAPC said, posing a bigger threat to police officers and public safety.
As a result, police-public interactions at demonstrations have started to include more verbal and physical assaults, swarming, and threatening behaviour toward police.
CAPC said this is problematic and unacceptable.
They say that negative interactions between police and the public happening elsewhere in Canada and the world have started to impact how police are treated in their own communities.
Protests have become an opportunity for activists to attend demonstrations to create disruption, CAPC said in the release, and have been escalating and creating more high-risk situations.
“The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) calls on all levels of government (federal, provincial and municipal) to provide police services with additional and sufficient human and financial resources, as well as the training and equipment required, to manage the increased volume and risks of protests and demonstrations,” the resolution says.
Additionally, CAPC said that immigration has been playing a role in the violence at these protests.
“In certain countries, the use of violence is an accepted vehicle for social change and that, through in-migration, thousands of people who may have an orientation towards violence as a means of expression or activism continue to arrive in Canada each year,” according to the resolution.
Increase in Doxing Police Online
During the conference, police chiefs said these negative behaviours toward police are showing up online as well.
CAPC said there has been a rise in the number of protesters who go online to target or dox police officers. Doxing is when someone posts private information about another, such as an address or phone number.
The information being published can have a negative impact on the reputation of the officer or the police service, the release said.
The resolution also calls on the Department of Justice to include a provision in Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, that makes doxing police illegal.
“To meet the increased demand for service created by increased protests and demonstrations, while ensuring officer and public safety, will require the moral and financial support of all levels of government to acquire the necessary human resources, equipment and training and to enact required legislation to make it illegal to dox the police,” stated Commissioner Thomas Carrique, president of CACP.