Sask. police commission asking for public feedback around carding
Saskatoon police did 735 street checks in 2015
The Saskatchewan Police Commission is asking for public feedback around carding.
The request to get feedback on "street checks" came from the Board of Police Commissioners meeting at the City of Saskatoon on Wednesday.
"The Saskatchewan police commission has to deal with a very grey area policy now on discretion with police officers, on who we should be checking, and who we shouldn't," police chief Clive Weighill said following the meeting.
"I think any information we can receive, or the board can, will be helpful in this whole situation."
In a report from police submitted at the meeting, it showed that Saskatoon Police Service did 735 street checks in 2015. The report showed that most of the checks happened in the downtown core and many were done in March and April, following a stabbing in the area.
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The report showed the main justification for a street check was suspicious activity. That was followed by a citizen call for service, bylaw violation, and unknown reasons.
There is no policy in Saskatchewan around street checks, although the commission undertook a policy review last December.
Saskatoon police are creating a new database for street checks but Weighill said there will also be training.
"It's the articulation when a police officer stops somebody to give that person comfort [about] 'what is the reason a police officer is stopping me? Is it because of who I am or is because I am in a suspicious circumstance?'" Weighill said.
"I think it's important for our officers to explain that when they are stopping people because that will actually probably take away half the ill feelings that we have about this."
In October of 2015, a group protested against the carding practice in Saskatoon after a report showed that the city does more carding than other Canadian cities.