A victory in the fight to ban street checks
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 23 July 2020 15:06
- Written by editor
Dear BCCLA Supporter,
Yesterday, we had a small but significant victory in the fight to end police harm. The Vancouver City Council unanimously voted in favour of banning police street checks in the city! This comes one week after a similar motion passed in Victoria.
But the fight is not over.
All 11 municipal police boards in BC, the provincial Director of Police Services, and the BC government have the jurisdiction to immediately ban the practice of street checks across their respective cities and the province.
Will you sign the petition to ban police street checks?
"You are stopped at random and you are asked a bunch of questions. At that moment, you don't know if you are detained and the presence of police in uniform with a gun is threatening. How long are we going to say, 'stop harassing us.'"
This is how Lama Mugabo, Director of Hogan's Alley Society, speaks of the harassment and danger that Black, Indigenous, and homeless people... face when they are street checked by the police.
We've been told that street checks are voluntary and casual. But there's nothing casual about a uniformed police officer with a gun. We’ve also been told that random street checks no longer happen. But we know from impacted communities that they are regularly street checked.
We have been campaigning against police street checks since 2017. This blatantly racist and illegal police practice must end now.
Thank you for your solidarity in this fight to end police harm.
With hope,
Harsha Walia
Executive Director
