Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

Vancouver Police Mull Updates To Street Checks But Find No Systemic Racism

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Sep, 2018 12:25 PM
    VANCOUVER — An internal report from the Vancouver Police Department recommends an overhaul of the use of random street checks, even though the review finds "no statistical basis" to conclude officers use the checks to discriminate against certain races.
     
     
    The report's six recommendations include calls to formalize existing street check standards, make street check data public and continue training sessions to ensure officers stay within their legal authority when conducting the checks. 
     
     
    Police Chief Adam Palmer commissioned the study following complaints earlier this year from the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs about the checks, also referred to as "carding."
     
     
    During a check, a person is stopped and officers obtain and record their identification and other personal information, even though no particular offence has occurred.
     
     
    Advocacy groups wanted B.C.'s police complaint commissioner to investigate an apparent racial disparity linked to carding, pointing to data showing Indigenous people make up 15 per cent of street checks, yet form just two per cent of the population. 
     
     
    Palmer's decision to proceed with an internal review was called "problematic" by the civil liberties association but a spokesman said Wednesday that the report's recommendations show the department has acknowledged problems with carding.
     
     
    "This is a start," said Josh Paterson, the association's executive director.
     
     
    "(The police) recognize there's an issue, they recognize it's important to better understand the perception of the communities they serve in relation to their work. So they are essentially saying there is more work that needs to be done," he said in an interview.
     
     
    "We agree. What they propose here is not enough to get to the answers that are required."
     
     
    The findings of the internal report will be considered by the Vancouver Police Board at its meeting Wednesday.
     
     
    The report says the analysis does not contain anything to suggest people are checked because of their ethnicity.
     
     
    "However, there is a lot to suggest that people are checked as a result of their actions," it says.
     
     
    Street checks are used infrequently, says the report, and it calls carding a "valuable proactive policing tool for ensuring public safety."
     
     
    Police report well-being checks may account for the apparently high rate of carding of Indigenous women, which the civil liberties group said made up 21 per cent of all checks of women in 2016, although Indigenous women only account for two per cent of Vancouver's female population.
     
     
    Among the initiative proposed in the report for the carding process is a call to find a new way to record a well-being check, removing it from the tally of street checks, potentially allowing for better oversight of checks on vulnerable citizens.
     
     
    The report also seeks expansion of the Indigenous Liaison role, creating a dedicated resource for Indigenous people or those with questions about street checks, and it calls for development of a new public education initiative.
     
     
    The education component would offer details about what street checks are, and why and how they are used by police, the report says.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Homeless Campers In Provincial Park Near Victoria Given One-Day Reprieve To Vacate

    Homeless Campers In Provincial Park Near Victoria Given One-Day Reprieve To Vacate
    LANGFORD, B.C. — A group of homeless people who pitched tents in a provincial park near Victoria have been given an extension to stay after being ordered out earlier this week.

    Homeless Campers In Provincial Park Near Victoria Given One-Day Reprieve To Vacate

    Charges Laid Against Oregon Man After Police Chase From Border To Vancouver

    Charges Laid Against Oregon Man After Police Chase From Border To Vancouver
    An Oregon man faces charges of dangerous operation of a vehicle and flight from a peace officer after a police chase from the Canadian border into Vancouver.

    Charges Laid Against Oregon Man After Police Chase From Border To Vancouver

    Abbotsford Police Take Man Into Custody After Shooting In Residential Neighbourhood

    A male is in custody this morning in relation to a shooting incident occurring last night on Flagman Place.

    Abbotsford Police Take Man Into Custody After Shooting In Residential Neighbourhood

    Collision Between Two Large Trucks Leaves One Dead In Abbotsford

    This afternoon at 3:33 pm, Abbotsford Emergency Services responded to a report of a motor vehicle collision at the intersection of #5 Road and Dixon Road.

    Collision Between Two Large Trucks Leaves One Dead In Abbotsford

    Homicide Team Called After Man’s Body Found In Richmond Home

    IHIT is in RichmondBC this afternoon after a man's body was found this morning in a residence in the 9000-block of Odlin Road. Death was deemed suspicious.

    Homicide Team Called After Man’s Body Found In Richmond Home

    The Fate of Ride Sharing in BC

    The Fate of Ride Sharing in BC
    As taxis become more expensive and less reliable, people are opting for alternatives which will allow them to get to their specific destinations in time and at an economically-friendly cost. 

    The Fate of Ride Sharing in BC