Reducing Racial Bias and Lethal Force Among Canadian Police Officers: Concrete Recommendations for Change

Population data reveal that Black individuals are more often arrested, charged, shot, and killed by police in Canada than White individuals. Given the traumatic effects of police lethal force, there are urgent calls to understand the potential causes of observed racial disparities and develop interventions to effectively reduce lethal force errors overall, especially among disproportionately affected communities. Expanding on prior lab-based studies, Andersen et al. (2023) observed anti-Black bias in a sample (n = 187) of Canadian police officers during their annual requalification assessments. The absolute frequency of lethal force errors was greater in simulations featuring a Black suspect and scores on the Implicit Association Test (IAT) indicated anti-Black bias. However, racially biased behaviour was not predicted by IAT scores, highlighting the need to revisit how police performance and implicit attitudes are measured. Andersen et al. also debunk the concerning and erroneous claim in U.S.-based research literature of an anti-White bias in police lethal force. The current article is a response to a commentary by Williams et al. (2023) who mischaracterize the principal findings in Andersen et al. and use factually inaccurate information in an attempt to discredit the study and research team. We call for improved professionalism and accuracy both in composing commentary articles and in the peer review process that approves them for publication. Drawn directly from empirical data and supported by current literature (Hagiwara et al., 2020), we conclude with actionable, evidence-based recommendations to reduce lethal force errors, racial disparities, and racial biases.