MEDIA CONTACT:

Erika Smith
Cell: (905) 704-9867
esmith5@mail.niagara.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:​ Black Anti-Police Brutality Activist Erika Smith Responds to
NRPS Deputy Chief Bill Fordy’s Open Letter

ST. CATHARINES, ON -- on Friday, July 10, 2020 Erika Smith, a Black woman who is an
activist with the Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association, issued the following public letter in
reply to the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) Deputy Chief Bill Fordy’s open letter
and radio interview on CKTB 610AM from the previous day:

Deputy Chief Bill Fordy,

I have read your statement to the public but have never seen your face. Based on your
words alone, I can tell that you are a white man of privilege. Words in and of themselves do
not have a race but they do have an impact and they can be used to give life to experiences.
Your words made clear to me that not only have you lived a life of privilege but that for the
first time you are experiencing the unjust persecution of an entire group of people and you
are not willing to tolerate it, in fact you want to put an end to it immediately.

In the past few months it would seem that you have had a new, difficult, and disheartening
experience of being stereotyped based on the colour of your shirt. What a relief it must be
that in these trying times you can go home, take off that shirt and no longer be stereotyped
based on your appearance. As BIPOC people, we do not have that luxury. We cannot go
home and change the colour of our skin (nor would we want to) for the sake of escaping the
discrimination, hate, and police brutality that we experience daily. We have been subjected
to stereotyping and much worse at the hands of the NRPS since its establishment in 1971
and it continues to this day. You claim to be listening to the “public”, does that include the
BIPOC individuals as well? It does not appear that you are listening to learn but listening to
respond and your response is not productive “In the spirit of transparency.” You list no
specific examples of the “tragedies” you are referencing, nor do you acknowledge the
specific reasons as to why those “tragedies” have happened. Furthermore the “tragedies”
that you speak of have not been happening for months, they have been happening for
decades. They have not been happening only in the US but just as brutally here in Canada.
You have expressed your dislike towards the disrespect of police officers across the country
but not why the disrespect exists.

I hate to say that I was not shocked to see that you dedicated only one brief sentence to
racism in the entirety of your statement to the public, “Racism is wrong and must stop.” (Is
that really all? I would hope that the public knows that already) It would appear that the effort
you put into writing that sentence mirrors the actual efforts you are putting into eradicating
racism within the NRPS. As the Deputy Chief of the NRPS you state “Make no mistake, I,
like other police officers and leaders, want accountability for any police officer that takes their
responsibility for granted and works outside the boundaries of the law.” This is the equivalent
of sending “thoughts and prayers” to the victims of police brutality and it simply is not
enough. You speak of accountability but nowhere in your statement do you acknowledge
that you and all other police officers represent an institution that has historically played a role
in the brutalization and murdering of BIPOC. You then go on to say, “Having said that, we
should respect the process for coming to that determination.” A process that has produced
what results? Let’s face it, if that “process” were working I would not be writing this letter and
you would not be stereotyped or begging the public to praise you and the NRPS because
“despite the current pressures, [you] have remained dedicated to duty; keeping our
communities safe”, as if that was not your literal job description.

On CKTB 610AM radio yesterday you sanctimoniously said policing should be based on
evidence not emotion, yet your extra foot patrols in downtown St Catharines are based
purely on the perceptions of class and white fragility. Both your Chief and the mayor admit
downtown is already safe and extra patrols would not have stopped the recent shootings, but
you went ahead with the patrols anyway to satisfy the emotions of a few at the expense of
the real safety of racialized and marginalized people who suffer disproportionately from
actual police brutality.

In your radio interview, when asked if there was a systemic racism problem in the NRPS,
you stated that there is no data to suggest that, therefore there is no evidence of systemic
racism in the NRPS. I would like to point out that a lack of data regarding systemic racism in
the NRPS does not equate to there not being a systemic racism problem within the
institution. The power of systemic racism and its resiliency stems from how ingrained it is in
our social institutions. For those who are not affected by it, like yourself, it is easy for you to
be dismissive of its existence. In fact, it is easier for you to be dismissive of systemic racism
because acknowledging it would necessitate change. If you look at something as surface
level as the racial composition of the NRPS, do we have equal representation? Should this
not count as evidence of systemic racism?

In your statement, you state that “yes, there are certainly things that we can do better and
we, the police, should be looking inward to focus on how we can continue to work towards
abolishing the presence of racism and mitigating biases and prejudices.” Your use of the
word “should” is suggestive and not action oriented. We do not have the luxury of time, our
people are being killed and brutalized by police every day. What the public needs and what
we demand is a clearly outlined plan for how the NRPS will move forward in its quest to
eradicate racism, biases, and prejudices from within.

The City of St. Catharines Anti-Racism Committee recently recommended to City Council
several evidence-based reforms to forward to the Region and NRPS, will you implement
these?

1) Body cameras: though they are not a solution on their own they are one tool among
many for accountability.
2) Your Crisis Intervention Training offered twice a year cannot possibly cover all
officers, double it to 4 times a year and add cross-cultural mental health training
which is in the original “Memphis” model your training is based on but is not in your
 curriculum. Add anti-implicit bias and anti-racism training lead by experts from equity
seeking groups.
3) End all street checks because despite the new rules this is still open to racism and
discrimination.
4) Demilitarize by selling the armored vehicle, which is rarely needed but endangers
those of us who are at risk of disproportionate police violence, and ban pepper spray
and tear gas from being used against protesters.
5) Reduce your budget by shifting welfare check, mental health, and suicide threat calls
to a civilian service, and end foot patrols that are only for the perception of a few and
are not needed e.g. in downtown St Catharines as admitted safe by your chief and
the mayor.
6) Hire a purely civilian (no ex-police) Ombudsperson with full access to all data and
records.
7) Publish online incident details for each hate crime (what, where, when, which
protected group), race data for each use of force incident collected under the
Anti-Racism Act, and extend this to collecting and publishing race data for each
traffic stop and its outcome.
8) Increase diversity hire targets from 10% to 15% to try to catch up to representing the
community you are supposed to serve, a clue about the presence of systemic racism
if there ever was one.
9) Per the 8cantwait campaign charge officers with the duty to intervene against other
officers and ban shooting at moving vehicles
10) Ensure complaints about use of force and discrimination are part of annual
performance reviews

You conclude your statement with “Decisions must be evidence-based, not coming from a
place of emotion.” I cannot help but see parallels in this statement and that of the stereotype
of ‘the angry Black female’ whose message is dismissed or claimed to be clouded by their
passionate emotions. You are right, the BLM movement has been exceptionally emotional.
Please, do not patronize us for being emotional and do not dismiss the importance of police
brutality being confronted head on. After all, “[We], the people [you] serve, deserve nothing
less.”

Erika Smith,
St. Catharines, Ontario
Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association (facebook.com/theNRARA)