Let’s Chat Race: Have Your Say

Traffic Stop Race Data Collection Project (TSRDCP)

Public Consultation Session:  January31, 2013  

Executive Summary

Community Development Section

April 2013

Executive Summary

Recognizing the importance of consulting the community and promoting public understanding of the Traffic Stop Race Data Collection Project (TSRDCP), the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) and the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) hosted a Public Consultation Session entitled, “Let’s Chat Race: Have Your Say on Thursday, January 31, 2013.  The session was designed to provide a meaningful consultation opportunity by harnessing the existing consultation framework, policies and guidelines of both OPS and OPSB.

165 participants representing the community stakeholders, OPS, and 48 different organizations were welcomed by speakers who outlined the project components and stressed the importance of community input to the overall process.  Speakers included:   

· Dr. Aisha Sherazi, a member of the Community Police Advisory Committee for the project and a member of the Community Police Action Committee (COMPAC);

· Councillor Eli El-Chantiry, Chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board;

· Chief Charles Bordeleau, Ottawa Police Service; and

· Dr. Lorne Foster, Dr. Les Jacobs and Dr. Bobby Siu, York University Research Team.

Graphic Recording:  Opening for Let’s Chat Race ~ Have Your Say

Through two rounds of breakout discussions followed with harvesting sessions in plenary, community members shared their perspectives and insights to better understand the project and provide input.  They identified key issues and areas of proposed improvement, as well as proposed strategies to address these issues. The breakout discussions were guided by trained table hosts comprised of community partners, COMPAC members, and OPS members.  Discussions were guided by a worksheet that addressed a series of questions designed to obtain feedback.  The set of questions was the result of pre-workshop consultations with the project team, the York University research team, and community focus groups.   

In the first breakout session, participants stressed the importance of keeping the community informed and engaged throughout the project and specifically at critical milestones.  They believe that this would contribute to the transparency, openness and visibility of the project and contribute to greater dialogue between the community and police, further building mutual trust between the two.  They also emphasized the importance of quality assurance through controls, officer training, and the importance of maintaining high officer morale. The participants, through their discussions, were able to identify common themes and synergies amongst the tables.

The second breakout session was focused on opportunities of mutual benefit for the community and OPS. There was significant variance in the comments provided on opportunities.  However, the most frequently cited opportunities included:

· The project provides an opportunity to enhance the relationship between the police and the community by learning more about each other.

· Ongoing dialogue and communications between the police and the community;

• Provide continuous training through the project, not just at the start.
• Continue gathering officer and community feedback through surveys and focus groups for the duration of the project.

Graphic Recording:  Harvesting of Breakout Sessions

On the issue of key concerns, risks, and other questions, the results were overwhelmingly congruent:

· In addition to race, they stressed the importance of gathering other useful information such as age, location, gender, type of vehicle, time and date of stop, outcome of the stop; and reason for the stop.

· Keep the race categories simple and clear – ensure they are inclusive and unambiguous.

· Monitor officer morale and ensure officer anonymity to reduce the fear of being labelled.

· Provide a chance to continue talking about this project by engaging the community and police, and offer ongoing communication with frequent updates to build buy-in and demonstrate transparency.

· Make the commitment to officers that this will not affect them negatively.

The most common recommendation raised through the consultation was to develop an information card that would be available for officers to hand to drivers who want information on the project.  Other recommendations included incorporating a call back or online survey for drivers in order to gather information on their experiences of a traffic stop; the ongoing study; and finally, regardless of this study, the participants would like to see OPS provide continued cultural awareness training for officers.

Although there was some divergence in the additional thoughts gathered, there were recurring themes that included the positive nature of this study for both OPS and the community.  Other themes stressed the need to make this simple for officers, and the desire of the community to be kept informed and be engaged throughout the project.

In summary, there was an overwhelming sense of support.   

Wordle Image:  Most Commonly Cited Words