Halifax Regional Police is reluctant to say how secure the carding data it collects really is. Since this information is pretty private you’d think they’d be eager to assure the public that there is no reason to worry. But even a FOIPOP request hits a blue wall.
The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission is taking the lead in a narrow investigation into carding by Halifax police. An expert will be hired to determine if discrimination actually occurs. Meanwhile Black people will continue to be targeted.
An extensive report by highly respected Ontario criminologists argues that carding in North America does much more harm than good. One more reason why carding should stop in Halifax.
We are going down memory lane with a short documentary about the forceful eviction of Occupy Nova Scotia from Victoria Park in November 2011.
Any time police conduct a street check that information ends up in a database. We wondered how secure that data is, and discovered that Halifax Regional Police (HRP) is not very helpful.
Calvin Lawrence, a former Black police officer who served with Halifax City Police in the sixties and seventies, has been following the discussion about carding from his current residence in Ottawa. He’s not happy with the Chief’s stance, and draws on his own experiences as a cop on the Gottingen and Gerrish beat to explain why.
We went to last night’s panel on carding at the North End Library. We planned to write about the entire evening, but we ended up with a story focused entirely on the remarkable responses by Halifax Regional Police chief J.M. Blais.
Reporter Rebecca Hussman with the second part of her series on sexual assaults in Nova Scotia. “There’s a whole societal change that needs to happen for victims to feel believed and supported enough to be able to report that to police.”
A quick update on the shameful practice of carding in Halifax. The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission is looking into it, but it is early day.
Black activists write a letter asking that carding be stopped, and nobody in power wants to talk about it. No way, says the chief of police. Can’t have politicians telling the police what to do, says Stephen McNeil. “Fix the tool, don’t throw out the toolbox,” says mayor Savage.