Racial Profiling: Commission On Human Rights And Youth Rights Recommends Final Ban On Routine Police Checks

The Commission on Human Rights and Youth Rights today recommended that the City of Montreal immediately and permanently prohibit routine police checks. which affect some groups disproportionately. She presented her recommendations at the public meeting of the Public Safety Commission, where she was invited to comment on the report on police arrests conducted by independent researchers for the Police Service of the City of Montreal (SPVM).

“The report on police arrests raises serious issues in terms of discriminatory profiling. The Commission is all the more concerned that it has already made important recommendations to the City of Montreal and the SPVM on these same issues for many years, “said Commission Vice-President Myrlande Pierre . “The testimony of victims of discriminatory profiling is also unequivocal about the double standard message they perceive. They feel that they are treated as second-class citizens, people for whom the right to equality is often perceived as abstract and theoretical, “continued Ms. Pierre .

For more than 15 years, the Commission has been working to denounce and stop racial profiling and social profiling. When asked to speak independently at the Public Safety Commission, she felt it was necessary to issue reminders given her expertise in profiling and took the opportunity to make recommendations.

In particular, the Commission recommended that the City of Montréal, the SPVM and the STM adopt uniform indicators in order to collect reliable data on the persons being monitored, intercepted, arrested, arrested and / or charged. This collection of data should make it possible to evaluate the disproportionate and discriminatory effect of certain practices or standards, which can then be modified accordingly.

On the prohibition of routine controls, the Commission welcomes the motion adopted by the Montreal City Council last Monday night. It is now a question of ensuring the complete and adequate implementation.

The Commission will set out these recommendations in more detail, and among others, as part of its submission to the Montréal Public Advisory Office on December 4 as part of the consultation on systemic racism and discrimination. .

The Commission on Human Rights and Youth Rights ensures respect and promotion of the principles set out in Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. It also ensures the protection of the best interests of the child, as well as the respect and promotion of the rights that are recognized by the Youth Protection Act. It also oversees the application of the Act respecting equal access to employment in public bodies.

Photo by https://spvm.qc.ca/en/Fiches/Details/SPVMs-175th-anniversary-