Professor Patrick Watson is lead author on a report released today by Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
Watson, who joined CrimSL in August 2023, completed the report "Analysis of Special Investigations Unit Race-Based Data 2020-2021" for SIU while at Wilfrid Laurier University.
The report analyzes de-identified race-based data collected in connection with SIU investigations between October 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021.
This report is an important first step in understanding how the SIU is performing on behalf of Racialized people who are disproportionately subjects to police use-of-force incidents, and Women who are disproportionately complainants of alleged sexual assaults by police officers.
However, there is much more that remains to be done. This report recognizes the accomplishment of gathering and beginning to analyze RBD, and looks forward to developing that understanding in the coming years.
- excerpt from Conclusion, "Analysis of Special Investigations Unit Race-Based Data 2020-2021"
The SIU is a civilian law enforcement agency in Ontario that has jurisdiction over municipal, regional and provincial police officers, as well as special constables employed by the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service.
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Read the report "Analysis of Special Investigations Unit Race-Based Data 2020-2021" by Patrick G. Watson, PhD, and T. Sidhu, MA, Wilfrid Laurier University.
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Read Toronto Star article about this report "Black and Indigenous Ontarians overrepresented in SIU investigations into officer conduct, report finds," October 17, 2023.