The Guelph Police Service has created new liaison positions within the department with hopes they will bridge the gap between police and the Black, Indigenous, LGBT and Muslim/Sikh/Hindu communities.
In 2019, Staff Sgt. Carrie Gale took over the role as the department’s representative on the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police diversity, equity and inclusion committee.
The intention of the committee is to identify equity, diversity and inclusion trends impacting policing in Ontario and within the communities that are served.
“When I started to work on the committee I realized we had to do more within our own organization to start to open that conversation and I couldn’t do it all on my own,” said Gale, a frontline uniformed supervisor.
She made a request to senior management to create new liaison positions within the department to bridge gaps with different segments of the community within Guelph, including LGBTQIA2S+, Indigenous, Muslim/Sikh/Hindu and Black.
Then came the death of George Floyd by police in the United States in 2020, followed by anti-black racism protests, including one in Guelph that attracted thousands.
“Then it was ‘alright, we absolutely do need this,’” said Gale.
The project to create a diversity, equity and inclusion committee within Guelph police received a green light soon after and the committee currently includes 25 people within the department.
“Those 25 people are then spreading it throughout the service and opening peoples’ minds,” said Gale.
Members of senior management, including chief Gord Cobey, sit on the committee.
“We have the people sitting at the table who can make the decisions to move forward on different initiatives, which is why we have been able to do as much as we have in such a short time,” said Gale.
Shortly after, a call went out within the service asking for officers to volunteer as liaisons with people living in the Black, Indigenous, Sikh/Muslim/Hindu and LGBTQIA2S+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual and two-spirit) communities.Those liaison positions are over and above the regular duties of the officers who volunteered.
The volunteers who stepped up each reflect the community they are now serving in their respective roles as liaison.
Constable Abigail Campbell has been with Guelph police for two-and-a-half years. She previously served about the same number of years with the Detroit Police Department.
“I ended up marrying a Canadian, that’s why I ended up jumping the border,” said Campbell.
“I am a member of the LGBTQ community and it is very important to me to spread awareness and show support for everybody in that community,” said Campbell. “My role is to build mutual trust and understanding and respect between the Guelph Police Service and the LGBTQIA2S+ community.”
She now acts as the liaison working to bridge an understanding between them and the police service.
Policing hasn’t always had the best relationship with people from the LGBTQIA2S+ community and it wasn’t that long ago that being homosexual or engaging in homosexual acts was a criminal offence.
Campbell said attitudes around policing and the LGBTQIA2S+ community has changed dramatically in recent years, although she acknowledged there is more work to be done.
“When I retire I want to know that I helped people and helped to make a difference and that I leave it better than I found it,” said Campbell. “I definitely have sympathy for what has happened in the past but I also want to be a part of making the future better for everyone.”
Constable James Nightingale, a member of the We Wai Kai First Nation, volunteered to serve as liaison to the Indigenous community.
His First Nations heritage comes from his mother’s side, but his eventual step into a policing career was following in his father’s footsteps.
“My mom is First Nations and my dad is white. He was an RCMP police officer, but retired now,” said Nightingale.
After a career in accounting followed by teaching on a First Nation reserve, Nightingale began his third career six years ago with the Guelph Police Service.
“I don’t know if it’s a destiny, but it kept calling and eventually I went for it when I had enough life experience to be brave enough to take it on,” he said of his career pivot to policing.
Nightingale has been a high school resource officer with the Guelph Police Service for the last three years and said he felt strongly about building relationships and trust within the Indigenous community.
“Guelph police are not without our issues, but I think we are a fairly progressive service and I want to give back, help out and show transparency whenever possible,” said Nightingale. “We all want to work on building trust and respect and communication and breaking down barriers. I think we all want actual items, it’s not just meeting and patting ourselves on the back. We all want to get stuff done.”
Constable Jash Manani is one of two officers who act as liaison to the Sikh, Hindu and Muslim communities. He practices Hinduism, was born and raised in India and moved to Canada almost 10 years ago.
“I have been to several calls where I have dealt with people who have migrated from India,” said Manani. “When they see me I can see they are relieved. Even the way I speak, I have an accent, even that small accent makes them feel that I can understand what they are going through because we had the same kind of experience back in India.”
Manani also brings the experience of previous careers to his role as a frontline officer and he speaks six languages, English, Gujarati, Hindi, basic Punjabi, Marathi and Urdu.
“I felt honoured that I was given this opportunity by Guelph police. This is what I have been wanting to do for a long time and when they approached me and said they wanted to build a bridge between policing and communities and do outreach,” said Manani. “I thought perfect. I wanted to do that.”
Constable Neil Moulton acts as the liaison to the Black community and Cst. Jagdeep Atwal is the second liaison to the Sikh, Hindu and Muslim communities. They weren't immediately available for an interview.
Gale said the committee is planning on holding some community events in the future, after pandemic restrictions have been lifted. Late last year it ran a pilot project in which youth from marginalized groups or at-risk neighbourhoods take part in a basketball program, with officers volunteering.
She hopes the basketball program will relaunch in April, as planned.
“It’s giving them a safe space to play basketball, develop some skills and engage with our police officers and build those relationships at a really young age,” said Gale of the children in the program.
