Race-based data collection involves gathering information on individuals’ race based on officer perception during police interactions, such as officer contacts, missing person reports, use of force, and victim and offender data. 

Collecting race data is important across sectors, including health, education, and law enforcement, to identify disparities and inform policy, practices, and change. Ontario policing agencies are mandated to collect race data on use-of-force incidents. Statistics Canada and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) are working together to establish a national framework for race data collection for victims and offenders of crime. The Calgary Police Service is not mandated to collect race data; however, the Service recognizes the importance of this data to identify and address racial disparities in policing practices. This data helps in understanding whether certain racial or ethnic groups are disproportionately affected by law enforcement actions.

The two reports include the collected data and subsequent analysis into five different categories: missing persons, officer contacts, victims of violent crime, offenders of violent and property crime and use of force. While we recognize the interest in race data in relation to traffic stops, this information is not available as the data-entry systems used provincially do not currently have the capability to capture race data.

Before 2021, the race field in our crime and victim reports was neither regularly entered by officers nor checked by Report Processing Unit (RPU) staff to ensure it was completed as it is not a mandatory field. In 2021, in response to the focus on race-based data, the RPU staff changed their procedure to ensure, where possible, the race field was completed. The process involved RPU staff reaching out to individual officers to complete the race field for all offenders and victims of violent crime. This process was essential to creating a more fulsome dataset for analysis. It should be kept in mind that the race data at this time is based upon officer perception, which has its limitations.

In the absence of a national or provincial race data framework, the CPS has taken time to develop a methodology and analytical approach. This work has been iterative and informed by the community, academics, and best practices.

Officers are not mandated to enter race information into reports; however, many have inputted that information based on their perception. In 2019, the CPS moved to direct data entry (DDE) by officers, and this resulted in a substantial increase in offender and victim race-data collection. Over the past five years, there has been no change in the completeness of data being collected. To address the missing data, particularly with Officer Contacts, a data-mining solution was developed. Many individuals have repeated interactions with the CPS over a period of time, and this solution leverages that additional information.

CPS officers are required to use many different systems in the course of their work, and unfortunately, none of these are aligned in their race category fields. The CPS does not have the ability to alter these race category fields as they are controlled by national systems. The CPS acknowledges that that the race categories are dated in language and are not comprehensive; this presents additional limitations to the analysis.

The CPS uses different systems to manage calls for service: Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and the Records Management System (RMS). Both systems involve vendors who provide systems to police services in Canada, so the CPS has limited ability to change picklists/data labels. In addition, Statistics Canada manages the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) where every police agency must consistently report on crime reports and demographics. Statistics Canada, along with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), are currently developing data standards for the collection and reporting of race data related to victims and offenders. 

CPS analysts have mapped the system race categories to five categories: Indigenous, Black, White, Racialized (includes Middle East, South Asian, and East Asian) and Racially Ambiguous (includes data where the data provides differing descriptions of an individual e.g., White in one record, but Indigenous in another).

Yes, we can, but it will take time. As noted, this is a preliminary analysis, and we know there are other questions we want to explore further in the data.

Currently, there is no standardized training or process for collecting race data. The existing race categories differ across national systems, and the labels are neither reflective of inclusive language nor are they comprehensive. This analysis is based on officer perception; we know that perceptions differ across individuals and that they may not align with self-identification. 

We acknowledge there are limitations to our analysis, including the use of officers’ perception data, not self-identification, and the 2021 Census data does not reflect the significant increases in Calgary’s population and diversity. As well, situations documented in our records management system only account for approximately one-quarter of police events. As such, this analysis is based upon a subset of all interactions. We also understand that underreporting can have impacts on overall results and findings.

The Government of Alberta legislates race-based data collection in relation to Street Checks under Bill 63. Street checks are voluntary and not random and are conducted when an officer has reason to believe that a citizen may have information about a crime or suspicious activity. Street checks occur only when officers have no other duty, authority or responsibility.

Through intelligence-led policing, we collect different types of information that may be of value to police and public safety in Calgary. This can include information collected during officer contacts, street checks, or directed patrols. We do not, and have never, allowed our officers to randomly stop people and ask them for identification (a practice commonly referred to as “carding”). Click here for more information.

The CPS De-escalation and Use of Force policy requires officers to report use of force incidents by completing a Subject Behaviour/Officer Response (SBOR) report by the end of their shift.

Officer integrity in reporting instances of use of force is reinforced by several mechanisms, including policy, supervisor oversight, the use of body-worn cameras, the force review process, and the professional standards complaint process.

Yes, we recognize that intersectionality and people’s experiences differ across many demographic characteristics. However, this analysis aligns with the City of Calgary’s 2021 Census data. The Census data includes male/female, so we aligned with that categorization. The CPS RMS does collect gender—male/female/X—which shows that in 2023, ‘X’ represents 0.13% of victim data. The dataset is too small to analyze confidently.

Hate Crimes motivated by sexual orientation are captured in police reports and reported annually by Statistics Canada and the CPS.

No other police agencies have released reports on missing persons, officer contacts, victims and offenders. Only use of force information has been reported on publicly and those reports were not conducted by the police agency. Police agencies across Ontario are working together to create a reporting framework, and the CPS is involved in those meetings for awareness. These agencies have also shared their training material with the CPS.

Other reports across Canada employ census data from their own jurisdiction, so direct comparisons cannot be made. That said, there is alignment in the over-representation of some communities.

The collected data is analyzed to identify trends and patterns in policing practices as well as societal trends. It can be used to develop training programs, inform policy changes, and improve community policing efforts. The data may also be shared with the public to enhance transparency and encourage ongoing dialogue to work together toward positive outcomes.

Collecting race-based data helps promote transparency and accountability in policing. It allows agencies to identify and address potential biases, improve community relations, and develop policies that ensure fair and equitable treatment for all individuals. It also provides one more data set to assess race-based data in conjunction with other sector-based data in order to identify systemic issues and address root causes.