Latest news with #streetchecks
Globe and Mail
27-05-2025
- General
- Globe and Mail
New Montreal street check policy includes reason for stop, right to end stop, police chief says
Montreal's police chief has asked his officers to change how they behave when they stop people on the street, the latest effort by the police to frame street checks amid calls to have them banned altogether. 'We made a commitment to update the policy to better define the practice and improve communication with citizens,' police chief Fady Dagher told reporters during a news conference on Monday, adding the new policy on street checks takes effect immediately. The policy would require officers to inform citizens why they are being stopped and to make it clear they're free to leave at any time. 'We want to make sure that you don't have any perception that you're being detained,' Dagher said. Police officers will have to document the details of the stop, and that data will be analyzed by authorities, Dagher said. That part will go into effect in the fall once computer upgrades are complete. Without the data, Dagher said they would have a hard time knowing how officers are behaving in the field. The police force said it is hopeful the measures will also improve communication between officers and the person stopped. It said street checks remain an important tool for police. Montreal police chief rejects street check moratorium despite racial profiling data Some advocacy groups like the Black Coalition of Quebec and Ligue des droits et libertés, a local human rights organization, say the new policy comes after years of complaints and doesn't go far enough. The league described the latest policy change as a 'half-measure' that came about because of heavy pressure from groups, but adds 'there is a world of difference between a policy on paper and the reality on the street.' Lynda Khelil, a spokeswoman for the league, said police should go further and explicitly tell those who are stopped 'that they have no legal obligation to identify themselves and answer questions.' The league said more than 100 community organizations signed a letter in 2023 calling for a ban on street checks instead of trying to regulate them. Fo Niemi, director of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, said there's a delicate balance between valid grounds for a stop – reasonable suspicions – with the right to protect ordinary and innocent citizens from being stopped without legal justifications. 'The success of this policy will depend on what kind of clear, if not mandatory, training to all officers about how to better communicate with ordinary people, people of different backgrounds, different capacity of understanding, even language barriers,' Niemi said 'And communicate in such a way that (the interaction) will not result in something worse, and that's always a challenge.' The Black Coalition of Quebec said the new policy was a step in the right direction, but isn't the same as a law or a rule that has a 'normative and coercive value.' It called for a provincial law that would apply to all police forces outlawing systemic racism – an entrenched practice that François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec has refused to acknowledge. Authorities had pledged to address public concerns about street checks after an independent 2019 report revealed Indigenous people, Black Montrealers and people of Arab descent were more likely to be randomly stopped by police. In 2020, Montreal police developed a new policy that banned street checks 'based on discriminatory criteria' and required officers to explain their reasons for stopping citizens, among other measures aimed at reducing racial disparities. The province followed with guidelines that mirrored Montreal police policy: that the practice of stopping citizens to collect and record their personal information shouldn't be random, unfounded or discriminatory. Black and Arab people overrepresented in Laval police stops, data show, reflecting broader Quebec pattern The provincial guidelines say that while stops are essential for public safety, they must be based on observable facts or information that gives police reasonable grounds to intervene. A report released in 2023, using data from 2021, showed little had changed: Indigenous Montrealers were six times more likely to be stopped than were white people in the city. The report called for a moratorium on street checks, which Dagher refused, saying any such action would be symbolic. The data also demonstrated that Black people were three-and-a-half times more likely to be stopped than white people and Arabs were two-and-a-half times more likely to be stopped. The new policy change will be presented to the city's public security commission on Wednesday night, when citizens will have a chance to raise questions.
CTV News
27-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
New street check policy includes reason for stop, right to end stop: Montreal police
Montreal's police chief has asked his officers to change how they behave when they randomly stop people on the street. Fady Dagher says the new policy on street checks takes effect immediately. The policy would require officers to inform citizens why they are being stopped and to make it clear they're free to leave at any time. The police force says it will also improve communication between the officer and the person stopped. Some advocacy groups like the Black Coalition of Montreal and Ligue des droits et libertés, a local human rights organization, say the new policy comes after years of complaints and doesn't go far enough. Authorities had pledged to address public concerns about street checks after an independent 2019 report revealed Indigenous people, Black Montrealers and people of Arab descent were more likely to be randomly stopped by police. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025.
CBC
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
New Montreal police street check policy praised by city, panned by advocacy groups
Social Sharing Montreal police unveiled a new street check policy Monday, and it's already being praised as progress by the city but criticized by anti-racism advocates for its lack of clear consequences for officers who violate it. The policy applies to officers with the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) randomly stopping people on foot, commonly known as street checks. Officers will need to clarify the reason for the interaction and inform the person they are free to leave at any time. Officers must then document each of these interactions. Documented street check reports will then be reviewed by a committee to ensure there is no racial profiling. Police Chief Fady Dagher says the updated policy will help build trust with the community. While it is just a start to addressing racial profiling within the SPVM, he says it is a step in the right direction. A report published in 2019 found that Indigenous, Black, Asian and Arab people disproportionately experienced random police checks. A street check policy adopted in 2020 aimed to reduce officers' power to stop people at random. A second report, published in 2023 by some of the same researchers, concluded there was no decrease in profiling after the SPVM created the 2020 policy. It found that between 2014 and 2021, Indigenous people were six times more likely to be stopped by police than white people. Black people were 3.5 times more likely to be stopped and Arab people 2.6 times. The SPVM says it has now taken the necessary steps to address concerns about racial profiling, and that is reflected in the updated policy. It's expected to take effect this fall, but the SPVM says officers have already been instructed to start following it. Public security head praises new policy Alain Vaillancourt, who oversees public security on Montreal's executive committee, praised the move in a statement, calling it a positive step forward. "It represents an important stage in the conversation our administration has initiated around profiling," the statement says. "The new requirement for police officers to inform individuals that they are not obliged to comply and may leave at any time is a significant development." He commends the work carried out by Dagher and his team, emphasizing that this is an ongoing effort and the policy may still be adjusted based on the effects observed by police, the public and partners. However, the Ligue des Noirs du Québec, a civil liberties group, says the new policy lacks enforcement and does little to hold officers accountable without legislative backing. "The new stop-and-question policy comes with no sanctions," says president Max Stanley Bazin in a statement. "The provincial government must step in — we're all waiting for a specific law to address the reality of systemic racism and systemic discrimination." In other provinces, these issues are recognized and openly acknowledged, he says. "The right to equality must be respected," he says. Sanctions needed for officers who don't respect policy Another rights advocacy group, the Ligue des droits et libertés, says in a news release that this measure is insufficient. It says officers should explicitly inform those stopped that they have no legal obligation to identify themselves or answer questions, and sanctions should be imposed if this obligation is not respected. "Citizens affected by racial and social profiling know there is a vast difference between policy on paper and reality on the street," the news release says. It says the fight for a total ban on these stops is not over. Fo Niemi, executive director of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), says this policy is an improvement compared to the one in 2020, as it clarifies what citizens' rights and freedoms are. However, his organization will be studying the new policy further to determine how it differs from the 2020 version from a legal point of view. "One of the most important criteria we have to look at is the notion of reasonable suspicion in order to justify the legality of the street check," Niemi says. He says the policy's application needs to be examined from the citizens' perspective, particularly among young people and "whether those young people's rights and freedoms will still be respected." Niemi says he doesn't believe the policy will improve trust between the community and police. There are other ways to enhance public security, trust and community co-operation, he says, and these policies should be created from the citizens' perspective. The legality of random police stops in Quebec remains before the courts. The province is appealing a Quebec Court of Appeal decision that found such stops unconstitutional without reasonable suspicion, with the case expected to go to the .
