Police street checks had ‘disproportionate and negative’ impact on African Nova Scotian community, independent report says
Street checks conducted by Halifax-area police over at least a dozen years have had a “disproportionate and negative” impact on the African Nova Scotian community according to an independent human rights report released Wednesday morning.
“Street checks have contributed to the criminalization of black youth, eroded trust in law enforcement and undermined the perceived the legitimacy of the entire criminal justice system,” said Scot Wortley, a University of Toronto criminologist. Prof. Wortley was commissioned to study systemic racism in Nova Scotia by the province’s Human Rights Commission in 2017 as part of a community response to a United Nations report that flagged concerns over anti-black racism after a 2016 working group visit to Nova Scotia.At a press conference to address what he called “a very painful issue” timed to the release of his 180-page report, Prof. Wortley emphasized that “concrete action is required” to address his findings.
In those meetings, Prof. Wortley encountered what he called “abject cynicism expressed by Black citizens.” “Many felt that this report would fall on deaf ears, policy recommendations would be reviewed and forgotten, and nothing will change,” Prof. Wortley wrote. “I hope all stakeholders involved can prove the skeptics wrong,” he said.More to come.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Black Virginia police chief quits, says some officers didn’t like taking orders from an African American womanTonya Chapman says her attempts to change the culture consistently met with resistance from some members of police
Read more »
York Regional Police defend decision to issue Amber Alert after girl, 5, found safeYork Regional Police are defending their decision to pursue an Amber Alert for a missing five-year-old girl who was ultimately found safe on Tuesday night.
Read more »
Dutch police detain second suspect in Utrecht tram shootingDutch police and prosecutors on Wednesday were pursuing “every lead there is” and questioning two suspects to establish whether the deadly shooting on a tram in the central city of Utrecht was an act of terror.
Read more »
Police say no charges for father of Ontario girl who was subject of Amber AlertA father whose daughter was the subject of an Amber Alert has been released without charges.
Read more »
New Zealand police: Mosque gunman had planned a 3rd attackA father and son who fled the civil war in Syria for 'the safest country in the world' were buried before hundreds of mourners Wednesday, the first funerals for victims of shootings at two mosques in New Zealand that horrified a nation known for being welcoming and diverse.
Read more »
New Zealand mosque shooter planned 3rd attack: policeA father and son who fled the civil war in Syria for “the safest country in the world” were buried before hundreds of mourners Wednesday, the first funerals for victims of shootings at two mosques in New Zealand that horrified a nation known for being welcoming and diverse.
Read more »
Bus driver in Italy takes 51 kids hostage, burns down bus as cops move inA bus driver in northern Italy abducted 51 schoolchildren and their chaperones Wednesday and took them on an hour-long drive, then set the vehicle on fire when he was stopped by a Carabinieri blockade, officials said.
Read more »
Police say phone scammers defrauded Vancouver seniors out of $3.1 millionA fraudster calls a senior on a landline and convinces them that their credit card has been fraudulently used for a large purchase.
Read more »