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Lethbridge Police Service and local lawyer at odds over street checks

Jun 21, 2017 | 3:39 PM

LETHBRIDGE –  A Lethbridge lawyer is calling for an end to police “carding,” while Lethbridge Police say “field interviews” or “street checks” are generally conducted with respect to people observed in suspicious or concerning circumstances.
 
Miranda Hlady says her friend’s son and his friends were stopped by a Lethbridge Police Officer last year. He is a black person, and wondered why police would randomly stop them. No complaint though, was ever filed against police.
 
Hlady says from that incident, she filed a Freedom of Information Request to find out whether the practice of  “carding”  occurs in Lethbridge.
 
“What I found, essentially, was that carding does occur in Lethbridge. It’s been occuring at least for the last two years… and it does disproportionatly affect young men. Particularly young men who are either black or First Nations.”
 
In a statement, Lethbridge Police say in 2016 there were 1007 street checks conducted. 41% (409) of the checks involved Caucasion people,  21% (210) involved Aboriginal people, and 5% (53) involved black people. A further 1% of other ethnicities were also involved.
 
Hlady says that doesn’t take into account the proportional representation of the various enthicities, because the city is made up of mostly (80%) Caucasian people.
 
Lethbridge Police however, say “further analysis would be required to determine how many of the total street checks for any ethnicity involved the same individual being checked multiple times. Without this information, assertions on certain ethnicities being checked more frequently than others as a percentage of the population can not be accurately calculated.”
 
To this, Hlady says she hopes police release more information to the public.
 
“The police certainly could provide more information about whether or not people are being carded more than once, they could provide more detailed statistics.”
 
LPS also explains that with respect to minors, as in the example provided by Hlady’s friend’s son, they have a legal obligation to check on the welfare of children.
 
“For example, if an officer observed a child or group of children out on their own after dark or in any other kind of suspicious or concerning circumstances, they would likely be checked to ensure their safety and if required by law, apprehended and returned to their legal guardian. In addition, youth are often the subject of field interviews in relation to property crimes. For example, if police are dispatched to a report of car prowling in an area and one or more young people is observed in that area-raising the possibility of criminal activity- they would be spoken to.”
 
Hlady contends though, that stopping people randomly, is a form of detention.
 
“The concern that I have, and that many other legal experts have is that holding people essentially, and asking them for information is a form of arbitrary detention and it is against our Charter. And I think that the concern is that any street checks of any people are potentially  unlawful. I think there is a concern that this is a very illegal practice, and it is a violation of everyone- white people and people of other backgrounds included.”
 
The LPS statement says all members of the department get training on bias-free policing, and after concerns about street checks were raised in Ontario last year, they reviewed their policies and are part of a working group with the Alberta Solicitor General and Ministry of Justice, to review street check practices in the province, and to standardize a position.