PLEASE READ AND SHARE WIDELY!
The review of the Peel Regional Police's School Resources Officer (SRO) program conducted by professors Linda Duxbury and Craig Bennell is NOT an independent review. In addition, the review NOT equitable, it perpetuates anti-Black racism, is unethical and misleading. Check out a few points below:
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1) This report lacks an equitable lens, whereas the review recently conducted by the TDSB of their SRO program took an equitable stance, by centring the voices and lived experiences of students most vulnerable, marginalized and negatively impacted by SROs in schools, this review of Peel's SRO program takes a majority approach. The report treats the issue of armed police officers in schools and the reports of them harming students as a popularity contest and fails to consider that the voices of students silenced by fear matter and should be actively pursued and supported by researchers in their praxis. Instead, the report treats this issue wiith skewed and very basic structure.
2) This report perpetuates anti-Black racism, and is contrary to what the Peel School Board indicates as important to student well-being in their "We Rise Together" plan. SROs in schools among many other issues, creates a school-to-prison pipeline and negatively impacts our undocumented, Black, Indigenous and racialized students due to racist racial profiling.
3) Please be aware that this report IS NOT INDEPENDENT!
In fact, in the Peel Regional Police Report titled, Annual Report 2016: A Safer Community Together, both Dr. Linda Duxbury and Dr. Craig Bennell (Carleton University) are directly quoted stating, “...I know that we are certainly proud to be your partner in evaluation of this program...” (pg. 38)
They are speaking to being proud of their monetary, profitable relationship with the Peel police.
How can they conduct an independent review when they are dependent on the police for their livelihoods?
This misrepresentation is very concerning for various reasons and confirms that this is not an independent review. Link to cited report: https://www.peelpolice.ca/en/aboutus/resources/Publications/2016AnnualReport-INTERNET.pdf
4) Furthermore, we also have to question why these two people were chosen as Lead Researchers when their professional profiles reveal that their education and interests of study do not align with an equity and social justice lens. For example, Duxbury is a graduate from Management Sciences, and Chemical Engineering and Bennell’s education also has nothing to do with equity.
Why are local academics with international accolades, who work from an equity and anti-racist lens, overlooked?
Professors with extensive professional experience in these areas have actively questioned racist and discriminatory practices within education.
For example, Dr. George J. Sefa Dei, Professor of Social Justice Education and Director of the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) has even provided a letter of support for the removal of the program.
Dr. Carl James of York University has worked very hard to address the dangers faced by Black students in education.
Knowing that the institution of policing has deeply embedded anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, why would anyone except highly knowledgeable and experienced researchers guided by equity polices and praxis, be selected for this role?
We have to question the connections that these particular academics have to police and how this impacts their work. For instance, on Bennell’s faculty profile, it states that
they are an, “... incoming President of the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology” as well that they are “the Director of the Police Research Lab”, which Duxbury has also worked on.
It is very disappointing that after so much work by so many people, #PeelDistrictSchoolBoard. #PDSB would choose to ignore the warning signs and allow for unethical research to take place on their watch.
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#TDSB Leads the way in establishing caring, healthy and equitable schools.
All school boards should follow their lead and remove the SRO program.
Andrea Vásquez Jiménez and Silvia Argentina Arauz
Co-Chairs of Latinx, Afro-Latin-America, Abya Yala Education Network (LAEN)
Feel free to contact us at: laentoronto@gmail.com
