A response to the Wayves interview, "Halifax Police Internal Rainbow Support Team." If you haven't read it, the article is here.
There is a lot to pull apart in the recent Wayves interview about the Halifax Regional Police Internal Rainbow Support team. The first issue to address is about what the group can actually accomplish, and what it is trying to accomplish. In the first paragraph, the group clearly states that their mission statement is that of an internal support group, saying, "the primary goal of the R-ISN is to transform the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ employees at HRP. We aim to provide robust support, mentorship, and networking opportunities for our members while identifying and addressing training gaps. Our mission includes fostering more inclusive work environments through awareness and advocacy."
What is the group trying to accomplish? What can they accomplish?
That gets muddled immediately in the second paragraph which says, "We recognize that improving the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ employees requires not only internal support but also building trust with external community partners. To this end, we have actively supported police officers and staff in handling cases involving the 2SLGBTQIA+ community members, delivered organization-wide 2SLGBTQIA+ training in 2023, and engaged with various community stakeholders to rebuild relationships."
The group is not actively trying to improve the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Halifax, but rather indirectly improving police relations with said community
There is an implicit logic jump, that if the group better educates people internally, that those educated will then have more positive interactions with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community members. Not that the group is actively trying to improve 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Halifax, but rather indirectly improve police relations with said community, by way of improving the training of Halifax police. This is an important distinction that gets obfuscated throughout the group's answers to the interview questions. This is important because we as 2SLGBTQIA+ community members reading this article, and interacting with the police, and living in Halifax (and arguably anyone reading this anywhere) need to keep in mind when engaging with "good faith" police officers. Also when pinning hopes of more equitable policing on reformed police being more inclusive or "intersectional" or less oppressive.
an internal support network for gay-not-queer police officers (and their allies) wearing rainbow name badges cannot move the needle in a way that matters on what queer people are policed over.
Ignoring the original mandate stated in the first paragraph, the group representatives being interviewed then highlight their most recent success, the Rainbow Name Tag Project which "allows officers - both R-ISN members and allies - to wear name tags featuring a rainbow symbol. This initiative aims to communicate their allyship to the public and help break down barriers to reporting crime." Materially, this does nothing for the homeless queer youth sleeping outside, or the black queer sex worker trying to earn a living. Both of these are "crimes," and an internal support network for gay-not-queer police officers (and their allies) wearing rainbow name badges cannot move the needle in a way that matters on what queer people are policed over.
However, it does help imperialist and capitalist powers assuage divergent populations (e.g. 2SLGBTQIA+ people) who find themselves being used by the state (i.e. police officers) to think they are making a material difference, eventually, in some small way, which can't be measured effectively any time soon. And if we feel better while still working in service of oppression, then we won't have to feel uncomfortable and use that discomfort to make meaningful, material change.
These HRP R-ISN members are a part of our 2SLGBTQIA+ community, I fully acknowledge and understand that. My hope is that the police officers involved seek out more 2SLGBTQIA+ community outside of their jobs (like most of us have to) to understand the unique challenges and supports needed outside of, and because of, policing versus leaning into something that cannot be reformed into not committing violence against people it pretends to protect (i.e. policing). Police protect capital, not people, not communities, particularly not communities in the margins.
The most tangible, effective example we're given in the article is the group successfully waiving fingerprinting fees for queer people legally changing their names at HRP facilities. It's worth noting that this can also be done at RCMP facilities, and the fee structure has not changed for any other fingerprinting providers except HRP. Regardless, it's nice that the Youth Project put a call out to waive fingerprinting fees for legally changing your name, the HRP R-ISN saw the call, and was able to use their influence to enact change. Credit where credit is due - if the group focused their efforts and attention on these kinds of material improvements, that would be something worth writing an article about. My suspicion is that this fee waiving initiative was the limit of the group's influence, and we won't see them able to enact change greater than a couple thousand dollars a year to the HRP budget.
the most positive 2SLGBTQIA+ change that could be advocated for would be enacting the calls to defund the HRP
On the topic of budget, the most positive 2SLGBTQIA+ change that could be advocated for would be enacting the calls to defund the HRP. A committee worked tirelessly to specify the harm the HRP inflicts, in addition to the limits of reform, and released the defunding report in 2022. The report included recommendations for reallocating funds to community initiatives (like 2SLGBTQIA+ communities). What could improve the lives of 2SLGBTQIA+ people in HRP more than an influx of thousands of dollars?
If nothing else, police officers (trained in 2SLGBTQIA+ issues or not) have no idea who are members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community when responding to calls. That makes it difficult to parse out the problems of 2SLGBTQIA+ policing from the general problems of policing. Discrimination and bias bleeds into every interaction police officers have with members of the public because the organization, the system, the creation of police within Canada and internationally, has been about discrimination and bias and acting first, questioning later. Admit no fault, assume someone at the scene of a call will want to, and be capable of, hurting you. These are all the foundations of policing that cannot be overcome by internal support networks, 2SLGBTQIA+ or not. I hope these officers learn the violence their jobs perpetuate and have the freedom to find other work.
It seems as though they really care about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community - almost any other job would be more supportive of that community than being a police officer.
