Miss Emily Cauduro1
1Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada
Introduction
Socio-economic marginality, colonialism, and intergenerational trauma perpetuates an overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples within the Canadian criminal justice system. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) acknowledges ongoing colonialism, emphasizes the resilience of Indigenous peoples, and encourages reconciliation through the Calls to Action. This research aims to examine how police policy, practice, and training in Southern Ontario has been modified to include the justice Calls for Action set out by the TRC and examine how police interactions with Indigenous peoples has been affected following the publication of the TRC. This research will aim to answer the main question; how do police officers understand the TRC? Existing power imbalances between police and Indigenous peoples were explored using decolonization, social constructionism, and critical race theory frameworks to understand how police policies and training may contribute to the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in the criminal justice system.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine police officers from the Kitchener-Waterloo Regional Police Service and the Halton Regional Police Service and thematic content analysis was used for data analysis.
Results
The findings of this research indicate that the TRC Report and specifically Calls to Action numbers 30, 31, 38, 42, 50, and 57, have had some impact on influencing police policy or application of the law to correct the present overrepresentation of Indigenous adults and youth in the criminal justice system.
Conclusion
Future recommendations suggest building community partnerships to assist in the development and implementation of training for police which align with the community policing principles.
Biography:
Emily is enrolled as an MA student in Child and Youth Studies. She completed a double major undergraduate degree at Trent University in forensic science and psychology.
Emily’s research interest allowed her to connect with her current research supervisor, Voula Marinos, who explores diversion programs and the Youth Criminal Justice System. Emily is specifically interested in restorative justice regarding Indigenous youth and currently aims to expand her research to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its integration into the criminal justice system.