N.S. RCMP apologizes to Black community for street checks
The commander of the RCMP in Nova Scotia delivered what he described as a long-overdue apology to the province’s Black residents on Saturday, acknowledging that the force’s past use of street checks did lasting harm to both individuals and communities.
Assistant commissioner Dennis Daley issued the apology to African Nova Scotians and all people of African descent during a Saturday event in North Preston, a predominantly Black community northeast of Halifax.
He said the RCMP had “disrespected” Black Nova Scotians through the practice of randomly stopping people and logging personal details about them and acknowledged the now banned practice — which disproportionately targeted young Black men — affected many facets of daily life.
“I’m sorry to you and your loved ones for how differently potential employers, your family and your community might have seen you, and even how you might have seen yourself, as a result of our actions,” Daley said at a ceremony that was livestreamed. “…I want to acknowledge and apologize for the far-reaching impacts of street checks.”
The practice sometimes known as carding, which is now banned in Nova Scotia, involved police randomly stopping citizens to record their personal information and store it electronically.
A provincially commissioned study released in 2019 condemned the practice used by Halifax Regional Police and the province’s RCMP because it targeted young Black men.
The independent study, compiled by criminologist Scot Wortley, found Black citizens were five times more likely to be street-checked than white citizens. Another study found street checks were illegal in constitutional and common law.
Daley acknowledged findings by Wortley and others in Saturday’s apology.
“All of your experiences are reinforced by data and evidence,” he said. “… You’ve been speaking about your experiences for years. I am truly sorry it’s taken so long for you to be heard.”
In November 2019, thenHalifax police chief Daniel Kinsella issued a formal apology to the city’s Black community, acknowledging that police actions and words over the decades caused mistreatment and victimization.
Speaking nearly two years later, an RCMP spokesman said the police force had no plans to offer a similar apology, saying that even though the RCMP recognized the disproportionate harm caused to marginalized communities, the Mounties’ national policy “still supports the use of street checks as a policing tool.”
A national study prepared for the RCMP didn’t recommend banning street checks but instead offered recommendations to change internal policy and require officers to obtain citizens’ “informed consent” before going ahead with a check.
Last year, Daley said an apology was overdue — a sentiment he echoed on Saturday.
To inform the apology and an accompanying five-part action plan, Daley formed a steering committee of African Nova Scotians from 13 Black communities across the province. The action plan, which aims to improve relations between African Nova Scotians and the RCMP, will be implemented over three years.