Anti-racism group wants Montreal police to review street check policy
Red Coalition says it wants the SPVM to collect more race-based data
CBC News · Posted: Jul 08, 2023 1:51 PM EDT | Last Updated: July 8
Cyrus Senior was left speechless when a Montreal police officer pulled him over last month. Standing beside his vehicle, the officer told him he had been driving at an "unusual time."
It was around 2:30 a.m. on Friday June 23, according to the 27-year-old. He was on his way home, driving through the neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce after performing a DJ set at a high school prom.
After initially walking away, the officer told Senior that the car he was driving — his mother's — was registered under a woman's name, which was also reason enough to pull him over, Senior said during a news conference Friday.
Although Senior, who is Black, found the officer's reasoning strange, he says he was more focused on going through a mental checklist he follows every time he interacts with police: keep your hands visible, be respectful, do everything you're asked.
"I was only frustrated after the fact when I was able to take it all in," he said. "In the moment I didn't think it was a big thing because it happens to me a lot."
The anti-racism group Red Coalition says Senior's case is another example of how police street checks can be informed by racial profiling. Alain Babineau, who is the coalition's director on issues of racial profiling and public safety as well as a retired RCMP officer, says he wants the SPVM to modify its policy on street checks.
Currently, officers can carry out a street check based on observable facts, in other words, at their discretion. Instead, Babineau says officers should meet the legal standard of reasonable doubt that a crime has been or will be committed before randomly stopping a civilian.
"Who will police the police? That's the question," said Babineau during Friday's news conference.
At the end of each street check, the SPVM officer should issue a receipts to the civilian that would include the officer's badge number and the civilian's race or ethnicity, he says. Currently, officers are only required to fill out an internal document with those details if the information collected is considered of interest to the police force's mission.
Babineau's comments come a few weeks after researchers published a report on street checks by the SPVM and racial profiling. That report found that between 2014 and 2021, Indigenous people were six times more likely to be stopped than white people, Black people were 3.5 times more likely to be stopped and Arab people, 2.6 times.
It concluded there was no decrease in profiling after Montreal police created its first and only policy on street checks in 2020, which aimed to reduce officers' power to stop people at random.
"The impact of this racial profiling is not only on the individual, on the victim. It's on his family. It's on his community and also on the legitimacy of the police service as a whole" said Babineau.
Senior says that he hopes speaking out about his recent experience will prevent something worse from happening to someone else in the future.
According to him, the SPVM officer let him go that Thursday night in late June, but not before telling Senior that he could have issued a ticket if he wanted to.
The SPVM told CBC in a statement that it does not comment on specific cases and that anyone who feels like they were wronged by the police force can submit a complaint to an independent organization.
Senior says he's been randomly stopped by police a handful of times over the last few years and that he knows this isn't the lived experience of his non-Black friends.
"The fact that I'm numb to this says a lot," said Senior.
"I don't know what it's going to take to change this," he says. "I shouldn't be scared to drive past a police car. I shouldn't be holding my breath."
CBC News · Posted: Jul 08, 2023 1:51 PM EDT | Last Updated: July 8
Cyrus Senior was left speechless when a Montreal police officer pulled him over last month. Standing beside his vehicle, the officer told him he had been driving at an "unusual time."
It was around 2:30 a.m. on Friday June 23, according to the 27-year-old. He was on his way home, driving through the neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce after performing a DJ set at a high school prom.
After initially walking away, the officer told Senior that the car he was driving — his mother's — was registered under a woman's name, which was also reason enough to pull him over, Senior said during a news conference Friday.
Although Senior, who is Black, found the officer's reasoning strange, he says he was more focused on going through a mental checklist he follows every time he interacts with police: keep your hands visible, be respectful, do everything you're asked.
"I was only frustrated after the fact when I was able to take it all in," he said. "In the moment I didn't think it was a big thing because it happens to me a lot."
The anti-racism group Red Coalition says Senior's case is another example of how police street checks can be informed by racial profiling. Alain Babineau, who is the coalition's director on issues of racial profiling and public safety as well as a retired RCMP officer, says he wants the SPVM to modify its policy on street checks.
Currently, officers can carry out a street check based on observable facts, in other words, at their discretion. Instead, Babineau says officers should meet the legal standard of reasonable doubt that a crime has been or will be committed before randomly stopping a civilian.
"Who will police the police? That's the question," said Babineau during Friday's news conference.
At the end of each street check, the SPVM officer should issue a receipts to the civilian that would include the officer's badge number and the civilian's race or ethnicity, he says. Currently, officers are only required to fill out an internal document with those details if the information collected is considered of interest to the police force's mission.
Babineau's comments come a few weeks after researchers published a report on street checks by the SPVM and racial profiling. That report found that between 2014 and 2021, Indigenous people were six times more likely to be stopped than white people, Black people were 3.5 times more likely to be stopped and Arab people, 2.6 times.
It concluded there was no decrease in profiling after Montreal police created its first and only policy on street checks in 2020, which aimed to reduce officers' power to stop people at random.
"The impact of this racial profiling is not only on the individual, on the victim. It's on his family. It's on his community and also on the legitimacy of the police service as a whole" said Babineau.
Senior says that he hopes speaking out about his recent experience will prevent something worse from happening to someone else in the future.
According to him, the SPVM officer let him go that Thursday night in late June, but not before telling Senior that he could have issued a ticket if he wanted to.
The SPVM told CBC in a statement that it does not comment on specific cases and that anyone who feels like they were wronged by the police force can submit a complaint to an independent organization.
Senior says he's been randomly stopped by police a handful of times over the last few years and that he knows this isn't the lived experience of his non-Black friends.
"The fact that I'm numb to this says a lot," said Senior.
"I don't know what it's going to take to change this," he says. "I shouldn't be scared to drive past a police car. I shouldn't be holding my breath."
Recent
Red Coalition puts teeth into fight against racial profiling
September 7th, 2023
Inside men
September 6th, 2023
‘Legal hub’ for victims of racial profiling launching in Canada
August 30th, 2023
‘Gross incompetence:’ Man ticketed for contraband cigarettes says he was racially profiled
July 28th, 2023
Man alleges random police stop in South Shore led to illegal search, fine for contraband cigarettes
July 26th, 2023
Archive
2023
January
Family of Montreal man killed while unlawfully jailed wants systemic racism inquiryLa famille de l’homme demande une enquête sur le racisme systémiqueSystemic racism inquiry called for by family of man who died after being pepper-sprayed at Bordeaux prisonDétenu mort à la prison de Bordeaux: une coalition exige plus de transparence sur le milieu carcéralUN GROUPE ANTIRACISTE RÉCLAME UNE ENQUÊTE PUBLIQUE SUR LA MORT DU DÉTENU DE BORDEAUXRights group seeks public inquiry into death of man in Montreal jailLobby group seeks public inquiry in Montreal man's jail deathAnti-racism group calls for release of video in connection with Montreal jail deathCivil rights group calls for inquiry into death of illegally jailed 21-year-old black manUne coalition réclame la publication de la vidéo de l’interventionLobby group seeks public inquiry, release of video in Montreal man’s jail deathAnti-racism group claims Quebec told Longueuil police to ignore court order on racial profilingAllison Hanes: Montreal prison death demands urgent answersRed Coalition: Quebec ministry told Longueuil police force to defy court order on racial profilingQuebec told Longueuil police to disregard court order on racial profiling, says anti-racism groupCivil rights group accuses Quebec of covering up race-based police dataQue s’est-il passé à Bordeaux ?Public inquiry ordered into jail death of illegally detained Montreal manPublic inquest to be held into death of man in Montreal jailChief coroner orders public inquiry into death of 21-year-old illegally detained at Bordeaux jailCoroner orders public inquiry into Montreal man's jail deathIl y aura une enquête publique du coroner sur la mort de Nicous SpringRed Coalition calling for investigation into systemic racism in Quebec jailsChief Coroner orders public inquiry into death of Nicous SpringPolice union head tells Montreal's new chief: staffing shortages 1st, community policing 2ndPROFILAGE RACIAL: UNE PLAINTE OFFICIELLE DÉPOSÉE CONTRE LA VILLE DE LONGUEUILCoalition alleges contempt of court against LongueuilPROFILAGE RACIAL: «LA CAQ DOIT TENIR SES PROMESSES», ESTIME LA COALITION ROUGEGroups to kick off Black History Month with measures to fight racism
February
Anti-racism group accuses Montreal-area school of systemic racismCalls grow to change streets named after Christopher Columbus on island of MontrealQuebec sisters afraid to go school, say racism complaints ignoredGroup says private school near Montreal ignored racism complaintsCas de racisme et de cyberintimidation au Collège Bourget de RigaudUn citoyen souhaite «annuler» Christophe Colomb à Pointe-ClaireRACISME ET CYBERINTIMIDATION: LE COLLÈGE BOURGET MIS EN DEMEUREBlack anti-racism groups lob volleys at Canada and QuebecProminent Quebeckers voice support for Trudeau’s anti-Islamophobia representativeProminent Québecers plead for federal anti-Islamophobia rep to be given a chancePetition against Bill 21 tabled at National AssemblyMontreal police brotherhood says it's too easy to blame its members for racial profilingLongueuil, other Quebec police slow in implementing race-based data frameworkAucune accusation ne sera portée contre les policiers qui ont tué Junior OlivierCalls for police accountability as officers who fatally shot Jean René Olivier face no chargesLack of care on Loyola property "unacceptable":DeBellefeuilleGroups call to cancel puppet show featuring minstrel characterUn spectacle pour enfants sème la controverse dans l’ouest de MontréalUn exemple de « racisme systémique », dénoncent des associationsLocal Montreal play carries on despite upset over controversial puppetFamily of man killed by Repentigny police says lawsuit incomingLa mère de Jean-René Junior Olivier poursuit la Ville de RepentignyLa mère de Jean-René Junior Olivier, abattu par des policiers de Repentigny en août 2021, a déposé une poursuite contre la Ville de RepentignyFamily of Black man killed by Repentigny police files to sue city for $430K in damages
March
Red Coalition alleges SPVM withholding findings on racial profilingAnti-racism group says Montreal police withheld findings of racial profiling reportUN GROUPE ANTIRACISTE AFFIRME QUE LE SPVM A RETENU LES CONCLUSIONS D'UN RAPPORT SUR LE PROFILAGE RACIALThis boarded-up building lays bare Montreal's crumbling social housing systemCity of Longueuil facing contempt charges related to police racial profilingLE PROFILAGE RACIAL EXERCÉ PAR LA POLICE DANS LA MIRE DU MINISTRE BONNARDELQuebec Bill on police practices facing criticismEthics complaint filed against Montreal executive committee chairperson"Smokescreen; a dog and pony show"City of Longueuil, Que. gets postponement of contempt of court charges
May
Pearson Board denies allegations of systemic racism, assaultAllegations of discrimination and racism at Montreal-area elementary schoolPlea to integrate permanent residents into Quebec police forcesPlaidoyer pour intégrer des résidents permanents au sein des corps policiers québécoisPolicier au Québec: un métier encore fermé aux résidents permanents
July
Red Coalition to SPVM: amend random stops policyLa Coalition rouge presse le SPVM de «réviser» sa Politique d’interpellationRed Coalition demanding Montreal police review street checks policyUn groupe de pression veut recenser l’ethnicité des personnes interpelléesAnti-racism group wants Montreal police to review street check policy'Unusual time to be driving': Anti-racism group calls on Montreal police to modify street checksKirkland resident says he was pulled over in NDG for being BlackLaval police handcuff, illegally search Black military man’s home after street check: Red CoalitionLaval man accuses police of racial profiling, intends to file human rights complaintMilitary aerospace engineer says he was racially profiled by Laval policeCanadian Forces’ member out for run ‘mocked,’ alleges racial profiling by policeMan alleges random police stop in South Shore led to illegal search, fine for contraband cigarettesMontreal man to file human rights complaint over traffic stop by Roussillon police‘Gross incompetence:’ Man ticketed for contraband cigarettes says he was racially profiled
2022
January
February
April
Quebec study exposes dramatic increase in police fundingNew initiative asks Montreal, Ottawa residents to film police interventionsMontrealers to have a say in hiring next police chief'We need to humanize the police': Que. police association aims to improve public image with new campaignVideo shows Montreal police officer pushing homeless man into concrete block; SPVM investigatingSPVM investigation follows video appearing to show abuse by two Montreal police officers
Categories
no categories