said that belief didn’t factor into his actions<\/a>, Wortley said gender and race are two factors research has found can contribute to use of force. In a report prepared for the inquest that was referenced in court, he said it’s possible stereotypes enhanced the officer’s fear or perception of danger as he approached the situation.<\/p>\n“It’s impossible for me or anyone else to totally understand everything that the officer was experiencing or thinking when he approached the situation,” Wortley testified in a Winnipeg courtroom before presiding Judge Margaret Wiebe on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“What I am acknowledging is that if racial biases were to play any role in the case, the officer would have to know the race or gender of the individual that they were engaging with, and this just provides evidence that they were aware of that background.”<\/p>\n
Even if bias is operating “at an unconscious level, there is evidence that the officer was aware or had a perception of what the person’s background was as they approached the vehicle,” Wortley said.<\/p>\n
Eishia, who was an Ojibway member of Berens River First Nation, was killed after a police car chase in April 2020.<\/p>\n
An agreed statement of facts prepared for the inquest said she was driving a stolen Jeep when some of the other teens in the vehicle robbed a liquor store. One of those teens threatened to stab a security guard before the group took off.<\/p>\n
Police started the pursuit after an employee reported the theft, describing the suspects as Indigenous youth, the agreed facts said.<\/p>\n
Wortley said it’s unlikely an officer would ever say racism affected their actions, even if they were aware of it. He said having better data could lead to more understanding about how race affects policing at all levels. Wortley recommended establishing a police race-based data policy and standards for collecting data on activities, including use of force.<\/p>\n
During cross-examination by Danielle Morrison, counsel to Eishia Hudson’s family, Wortley agreed that without that kind of data collection and effective oversight, systemic issues such as racial disparities can remain undetected.<\/p>\n
He also agreed, during cross-examination by First Nations Family Advocate Office lawyer Seneca Longclaws, that additional changes, such as more police training on reconciliation and the child welfare system, could also be helpful.<\/p>\n
Wortley also referenced data during his testimony that he said suggested while Indigenous people in Winnipeg and Manitoba are involved in nearly half of deadly police force encounters, they make up a much smaller portion of the general population.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Police Service lawyer Kimberly Carswell challenged Wortley on a number of points during cross-examination, pointing out none of his own research was specific to Manitoba or the Prairie provinces and that Wortley had never testified on behalf of a police agency in court.<\/p>\n
The inquest into Eishia’s death won’t assign blame but will look at whether systemic racism played a role and whether the use of force was appropriate.<\/p>\n
It’s scheduled to continue until June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An expert on systemic racism in policing says it’s possible racial stereotypes played a role in the response…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[11819,1987,11823,11822,11820,11821,84],"class_list":["post-23925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-eishia-hudson","tag-inquest","tag-racial-biases","tag-racial-stereotypes","tag-scot-wortley","tag-systemic-racism","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}