Quebec police officers would be demotivated, discouraged and would be reluctant to get involved at work, concludes a study conducted by the National Police School of Quebec (ENPQ), located in Nicolet.
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According to the authors of the study, who interviewed 21 Quebec police officers to probe their state of mind, police disengagement, which results in abstention from intervention, is very present in Quebec.
“These states of mind would result in a decrease in efforts and involvement at work, the reluctance to intervene which sometimes leads to not intervening at all and sometimes to looking to the left when it is happening to the right”, a noted the ENPQ in its press release, specifying however that given the small size of the sample, the results cannot be generalized.
The causes of police disengagement are identified as fears of repercussions and consequences, public criticism, lack of organizational support and media sensationalism.
In particular, study participants said they were tired of being considered racists. Moreover, law enforcement officials no longer react in the same way when confronted with members of ethnic communities.
“Several participants said that when they have to intervene with an individual who belongs to a cultural community who has committed a crime, they say to themselves that they know that this person or that the witnesses of the intervention will say that ‘They arrest him because they are racist and they are afraid that this situation has turned upside down. So, they explained to me that either they will go their way, or they will wait for this person to commit a more serious crime, ”detailed the head of the study Camille Faubert.
A former police officer still active in the community testifies to this reality. “Policewomen or police officers tell me” why I would put myself in trouble by risking losing my job because I am making interventions “,” said Michel Oligny, whose expertise is always required during certain events involving police officers .