WRPS

[jamincan]

Is cancelling this project a victory?

I'm not a visible minority, so I am speaking from a position of not-true-understanding - I acknowledge this.

There was a time that the LGBQT+ community was persecuted by the police services.  Relationships were far from good.  Police services have worked on those relationships, and one small token was the PRIDE cruiser that was part of our traffic branch.  Did the cruiser solve any issues, no... but it was a public acknowledgement that the service valued that community.  Are LGBTQ+ relationships with the police perfect?  I doubt it... but its a more welcoming service now than it was then.

This cruiser (to me) is the same.  Does it solve any wrongs?  Hell no.  Is it a small step towards a change that is in process.

There is an really important distinction in that the Pride cruiser was not just performative; it reflected changes that were already taken within WRPS specifically to improve how it engages with LGBTQ+ people, and those were visible and noticeable changes.

A painted cruiser doesn't fix anything. Instead it is a symbol of values and a commitment to them. Displaying a symbol without doing the tough work to demonstrate those values is going to garner criticism. The most generous interpretation is that WRPS simply put the cart before the horse - rolling out this "culture" cruiser prematurely doesn't mean they aren't working on more substantive change. The more cynical interpretation is that they view the problem more as a PR issue than a systemic one.

As a gay man, I personally have real mixed feeling still about seeing Toronto Police march at Toronto Pride due to the history it has with LGBTQ+ people, even if in the moment I really really like seeing them there. Slapping a rainbow sticker onto a policer cruiser doesn't suddenly make you an ally.