PSA: There are no more studies needed. There is much work to be done to undo the layers of racism at play in the HPD. Banning street checks is only a start, but an absolutely necessary one. Let Minister Mark Furey know that we need to end the racist practice of street checks now.
Some 80 people attended a powerful community meeting, and several hundreds marched through downtown Halifax this afternoon, calling for an immediate and unconditional ban on the racist practice of police street checks.
The African Nova Scotian community is calling out to community members and allies to stand up and hit the streets in representation of support of the individuals affected by the practice of police street checks.
![Public statement by the African Nova Scotian Decade for People of African Descent Coalition (DPAD), on the Independent [Police] Street Checks Review](https://nsadvocate.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/cardingsolhalFEAT-365x260.jpg)
Public statement: “This report has strengthened the Coalition’s position that street checks are illegal and should be banned:”
Angela Bowden remembers growing up Black in rural Nova Scotia, and reflects on the enduring damage done by abusive police practices over the generations. “I vividly recall, as do many of my peer group, police officers slowly driving by us numerous times, following us as we walk, asking us our names, where we are going, where we are coming from, and who our parents were.”
There is nothing in Wortley’s report about police street checks we didn’t know, or could not have known, or should not have known before. Sure makes you wonder…
Police chief Jean-Michel Blais against all evidence denied that racial profiling and rude cops were ever a problem in the Halifax police department. It’s a good thing he’s retiring.
Raymond Sheppard on the urgent need to fix systemic anti-Black racist bias in the courts and in policing.
The CBC reports that the number of street checks by Halifax Regional Police has decreased over the last two years. However, that decrease has mostly benefited white people. The likelihood a member of a visible minority will be subjected to a street check has increased relative to a white person’s chances.