It doesn’t paint a pretty picture. For 12 years, Halifax police stopped people on the street and kept records of each encounter. They also made notes of ...
Halifax Regional Police has a history of discriminating against Black people. In 2020 people protest the violent arrest of a Black woman, Santina Rao, who was falsely accused of shoplifting at a Walmart in Halifax. - Bill SpurrFor 12 years, Halifax police stopped people on the street and kept records of each encounter. They also made notes of anything they thought might be suspicious.Critics have called it racial profiling and evidence could start disappearing by the end of the month.
“Even if you have never been charged or convicted of a crime you are now ‘known to the police.’ Even if you have never been charged with a crime you can now be deemed ‘guilty by association.’ In other words, the police can document you as ‘suspicious’ or a potential criminal because you are observed talking to a family member or a neighbour or a coworker who has a criminal record.”Wortley’s report also contained 53 recommendations.
“Due to the volume of historical data in our Versadex system, however, the purging process may extend beyond that date,” said Cpl. Chris Marshall, Nova Scotia RCMP spokesperson.says that the Mounties are waiting for a final decision on what to do with the records from RCMP headquarters in Ottawa. She said purging the records erases history and hides undeniable evidence of police discrimination against the Black community. But it also gets rid of a tool to hold police accountable and evaluate whether anti-bias efforts are working.
Smith, a Black city councilor, has spoken out about being profiled by police. Following the release of the Wortley report, he said on his website that he hoped it would begin to “repair the broken relationship with the Black community and our police force.” The RCMP study also talked about keeping data that does not include names, addresses and other personal information “for statistical research purposes.”
Jones says people are distrustful of the police and reluctant to go through them to access information that’s been collected on them. Wortley said that information should be kept but grouped and anonymized. Statistics on racial background, for example, would be kept and shared to avoid racial profiling in police stops.
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