The Sarnia Police Service (SPS) Emergency Response Team (ERT) was unable to respond when a high-risk incident involving a firearm occurred on Vidal Street South, May 27. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Tactics and Rescue Unit (TRU) had to be called in, as the SPS ERT was away at a military base in Michigan for intensive training.
The SPS says that the ERT must meet significant training requirements throughout the year. When teams are not available, as was the case during the May 27th incident, arrangements are made with other police services to ensure mutual coverage.
The annual intensive training for the ERT, was scheduled in advance and took place from May 26 to May 30. The Sarnia Police Service proudly shared pictures of the training in a Facebook/Instagram post. They describe the training as crucial, and say that it allows the ERT to meet a number of training requirements for tactical teams, as outlined by the Community Safety and Policing Act (the Act) Regulations, at a single, specialized facility, within a condensed timeframe.
The training facility offers many resources, including life-like buildings and structures specifically designed for tactical training scenarios. The Act requires that tactical teams maintain the highest standards of operational readiness and proficiency.
For Sarnia, this year’s training focused on skills such as night operations utilizing Night Vision Goggles (NVG), various dynamic firearms drills, rappelling techniques for apprehension and rescue, Close Quarters Battle (CQB) tactics, and high-risk scenario-based training such as "Officer Down" situations.
Earlier this year, the Sarnia Police Service Board approved the purchase of 14 sets of Night Vision Optical Devices at a cost of around $140k. This purchase and the recent training are part of the SPS ERT raising its designation from a Containment Team to a Tactical Team. The cost of the training alone for one member of the twelve-member team is approximately $6k.
The Sarnia Police Service says enhancing the tactical capabilities of the ERT is essential for ensuring the safety and security of our community.
Critics, however, say this kind of training is part of the growing trend of police militarization and that it does not improve community safety.
The Journal spoke with Tandeep Sidhu PhD, Assistant Professor in the Sociology and Criminology Department at the University of Manitoba, whose dissertation research at the University of Waterloo critically engaged with the social dynamics of police militarization in Canada. He says that while this type of training for tactical units is indeed mandated by the Community Safety and Policing Act, “the money that’s being spent on police militarization is far better directed to funding social programs and funding community supports that actually will contribute towards a reduction in crime.”
“The police have the legislative backing to be able to continue to militarize as they almost deem fit,” says Sidhu. He also says that “there is no consensus on the degree to which police militarization actually improves officer safety or public safety.”
Since the advent of the Global War on Terror, and the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011, there has been an influx of media representation of special forces military units like Seal Team 6. “The public begins to see these compact barrel assault rifles. They begin to see FAST helmets. They begin to see military fatigues with built-in knee pads,” says Sidhu. “The police began emulating this equipment on the premise that they require it for public safety.
“Police services are adopting equipment that's being used by highly specialized military special forces units,” he says. “Essentially, this is a form of image management for the police.”
Officers dressed like this are intimidating, and Sidhu says “it portrays the urban space as a place of war and it portrays those who they come into contact with as not your typical civilian but as an enemy combatant.”
“And once these tactics and equipment enter into civilian policing,” he adds, "it's almost impossible to take back.”
Police services, says Sidhu, “collect statistics that are basically self-fulfilling in nature. By collecting only statistics to demonstrate the utility of these tactics or the utility of this equipment, they're then able to justify its use in the context of civilian policing.”
An example of this is how use of force incidents are reported. “They have a category now for what's called a ‘perceived weapon,’” says Sidhu. “The police are able to essentially elevate the number of people who are coded as having a weapon, which then provides them the statistical evidence they need to continue purchasing military style equipment for the purposes of civilian policing.”
He notes a growing convergence in the economic interests around police militarization. “There are numerous private arms companies and private outfitters that sell these services to the police,” he tells us. “This equipment is marketed to the police on the basis that it is needed for officer safety.”
He believes that much of this advanced equipment is not actually necessary. “There are police services in Ontario who have now begun using silencers on their firearms,” he says. “Under what circumstances have the police ever required the elimination of a target without alerting somebody else?”
Sidhu acknowledges that there are instances where tactical teams would be needed, a potential risk for a set of circumstances that would necessitate the police using night vision goggles, rappelling down buildings, and breaching buildings. However, he believes we must also discuss the social harm that comes from deploying these tactics and equipment.
He says tactical units can often be called upon to respond to calls outside of their intended mandate, such as mental health crises. Or they may be called upon to engage in warrant executions, where they are used in proactively rather than reactively.
“This is being used in areas that the police have deemed risky or against actors the police deem risky,” he says. “But that in and of itself is an exercise in social power."
It has a disproportionate effect on racialized and socioeconomically marginalized communities, and can lead to eviction, property damage, family disruption, and stigmatization.
“What ends up happening with people who are coming into contact with the tactical unit is that they experience stigmatization within their community,” says Sidhu. “Their presence is far more stigmatizing than a plain clothes officer or a general uniform patrol officer because the assumption that the public has about police militarization is that the SWAT team is used for dangerous people.”
Sidhu says there is a broader discussion to be had about the necessity for police militarization, which can be drowned out by appeals for crime control. He says it does not reduce crime in any way and that his research reflects that despite any utility it may have, ultimately "police militarization functions as a vehicle for social harm.”
The standoff that occurred in late May was resolved without the involvement of Sarnia’s Emergency Response Team, but did require the presence of the OPP’s tactical team. The question is, does this incident highlight the need for Sarnia’s own tactical squad or does it show that those resources could be spent better elsewhere?