Disengagement, this tendency of the police to refrain from intervening for fear of consequences, would indeed exist in Quebec, according to the first results of an investigation, announced Tuesday the National Police Academy.
Principal researcher Camille Faubert, however, warned against hasty generalization. Only 21 officers were interviewed, out of a pool of 186 who had volunteered themselves.
“This is a first overview of the phenomenon in Quebec” serving to pave the way for a broader consultation that will take place in 2022, she explained.
Eight of the participants admitted to having acted themselves in a way that avoided a potentially harmful situation. In all, 16 said they witnessed disengagement from their colleagues.
Almost all police cited “public criticism” and “media sensationalism” as the primary reasons for disengagement. The majority of them said they feared being the subject of legal proceedings, but also of being “filmed, publicized” or “accused of racial profiling”.
“Society wants us to be extremely, extremely watched,” one of them had launched during his interview. Another wondered: “We demand so much perfection, are humans going to be able to do it?” “
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