A contextualized assessment of duty-related bodily harm associated with Canadian police services

Abstract

Canadian police report substantially more mental health challenges than the general population, partially due to negative media coverage. Negative media coverage often focuses on critiquing police causing duty-related bodily harm (DRBH) without sufficient context. Direct comparisons of police to other professionals are difficult; however, analogous comparisons can be made to previously published data on Avoidable Harm during Hospitalization (AHH). The current study quantitatively analyzed publicly available Canadian data on DRBH involving use of force exceeding legally approved standard operating procedures or involving code of conduct violations (FELSOP) relative to total police occurrences. From 2014 to 2023, DRBH involving FELSOP proportions were 1.89 per 100 000 police occurrences and 5566.67 AHH instances per 100 000 hospitalizations. Criticisms of Canadian police interactions with the public appear inconsistent with the available data. DRBH reported without context and coupled with anti-police rhetoric likely causes harms to individual police, and undermines efforts at recruitment, retention, community engagement, and Indigenous reconciliation. Healthcare worker intentions are justifiably considered beneficent, and harms are considered unintentional by default; the same should be made true for police officers, absent a conviction. Concerted efforts are needed to reframe the Canadian police discourse, possibly informed by the supports already rightfully provided to healthcare workers.