Vancouver police accepts recommendations on street checks after racial discrimination complaint

Vancouver police will be implementing six recommendations to improve procedures around street checks, after a formal complaint alleged they were being conducted in a "discriminatory manner."

VPD publicly released data on street checks — defined as "non-random contact between members of the public and police" — in May 2018.

In June, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association filed a formal complaint to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, alleging the data "[revealed] a racial disparity in the rates of street checks."

The complaint highlighted that, according to the 2017 data, Indigenous people accounted for more than 16 per cent of the checks, despite making up a little more than two per cent of the population. Black people accounted for five per cent of the checks, despite making up one per cent of the population.

In 2016, Indigenous women accounted for 21 per cent of all checks of women.

'No statistical basis'

In a 66-page report released on Tuesday, VPD said the "conclusion advanced by the complainants that street check data is evidence of police discrimination oversimplifies the complex societal factors and historical context of our community."

But VPD said despite there being "no statistical basis" to show the actions of officers are "systematically discriminatory," it would be accepting the six recommendations in the report.

The police force will: 

• formalize existing street-check standards into police policy
• add additional training
• release street-check data annually
• add an Indigenous Liaison Protocol Officer
• further community relationships
• begin documenting when street checks are conducted to monitor an individual's well-being.

Dylan Mazur, community lawyer with BCCLA, said he is "pleased" with the report.

"They've acknowledged that there's a problem with street checks," he said, adding that what's now needed is to hear the community's perspective.

"It's not the intent of the police officers that we need to focus on, it's the experience of the person that's been street checked that we need to focus on. And if that experience is one of discrimination, then we have a problem with public trust and public confidence in the police."

Following a police board meeting on Wednesday, Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer said he hoped the report provided more context to the street check data.

"Sometimes the things that you hear that are happening in other parts of the world or other parts of the country don't translate to our city," he said.

"We also recognize that there is a huge emotional component to this and regardless of what data [or] analysis the police department comes forward with ... we recognize that when you are checked by the police that is an emotional experience."

VPD defends record

The VPD report said the majority of street checks involved people who had a history of crime, or occurred in areas of the city where crime is most prevalent.

The report also said Indigenous people are over-represented in the data because of "complex socioeconomic factors," including a troubled history with Canada, and "intergenerational scars of residential schools."

The report noted that across 10 years of data, 53 per cent of Indigenous women who were street checked had been the subject of a missing persons report. 

It also highlighted that while street checks generally occur when a police officer notices unusual activity, they are also conducted to check on the wellbeing of citizens, like when a opioid overdose is suspected, or a homeless person is sleeping outside on a cold night.

With files from Joel Ballard

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