(CBC) – The discrimination case of an Iranian-born man who was tossed out of the RCMP training program has caught the attention of a visible minority police officers group in the United Kingdom.
Cmdr. Ali Dizaei, a high-ranking officer with the Metropolitan Police Service in London and president of the National Black Police Association, said he’s planning to lead a delegation of association members to Canada in the new year to meet with RCMP leaders and share their experiences battling racism within the ranks of police.
Dizaei said he was motivated to make the trip after he examined the discrimination case of former RCMP cadet Ali Tahmourpour.
In 1999, Tahmourpour was accepted into the RCMP’s training program at its academy in Regina. Four months into the training, the Mounties decided he did not measure up and he was booted out.
Tahmourpour, however, complained that he was the victim of discrimination and that there was evidence of systemic racism within the RCMP’s training division.
A lengthy legal battle ensued and last April, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled in favour of Tahmourpour, awarding him compensation for pain and suffering, money for lost wages and payment of his legal fees. The total cost was estimated to exceed $1 million.
The RCMP have since taken the tribunal’s ruling to the Federal Court for review. No date has been set for when it will be heard.
Tahmourpour recently shared his story with Dizaei. The London officer said he examined the case and believes the RCMP can learn from the experiences of other police forces.
“There is clear evidence that there are some issues of institutional racism at play,” Dizaei told CBC News in a telephone interview on Thursday. “Institutional racism is a concept that we worked very hard in the U.K. to combat. And we are very anxious to help the RCMP to fix itself, in order to identify institutional racism and to get rid of it within its organization.”
Dizaei said the National Black Police Association represents 15,000 active U.K. officers with a diverse ethnic background from the Middle East, to Africa and the Caribbean.
He said the visit is being planned for some time in either January or February of 2009.
“We would hope to meet with the senior management and leaders of RCMP so we can actually share with them our experience of dealing with institutional racism so that RCMP become a better employer and attract more people from ethnic minorities,” Dizaei said.
He added he believes the force would welcome input from groups such as his.
“You have open and transparent leadership there who would welcome advice and guidance,” Dizaei said. “We police officers, nationally and internationally, would like to learn about good practices. We will share our good practice with RCMP and it will up to them whether they want to take it up or not. This is how we do things in the police family.”
A spokeswoman for the RCMP, Sgt. Sylvie Tremblay, told CBC News on Thursday from Ottawa that she would have to look into the matter before she could comment.
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