A coalition of rights organizations calls on the Legault government to ban police arrests, an “arbitrary” and “without legal basis” practice most often directed at racialized and disadvantaged communities.
The League of Rights and Freedoms (LDL), at the origin of this initiative, says it wants to challenge the office of the new Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, while Quebec should submit a new version of its reform in the coming months. police practices.
Note that the organizations make an important distinction between random roadside stops, at the center of a recent Superior Court judgment challenged by the Government of Quebec, and police stops, also called street checks”.
The latter case refers rather to the arrest by the police of people who are in the street without a valid reason, for example, by asking them for their identity cards, where they come from, where they are going, etc.
However, this practice by the police violates the rights of those arrested in addition to disproportionately targeting members of visible minorities, homeless people, sex workers and other marginalized groups, recalled a spokesperson for the LDL. , Lynda Khelil.
“Since 2020, the Ministère de la Sécurité publique (MSP) and the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) have prided themselves on having adopted policies to guide police stops, but this is nothing more than window dressing. Putting tags on arrests will not put an end to profiling, ”she then hammered.
The LDL press conference was held at the same time as, a few streets away, at the Montreal courthouse, Mayor Valérie Plante was testifying before the Superior Court in the 170 million class action between the Black League of Quebec and the City of Montreal.
The League is suing the City to obtain compensation for thousands of racialized people arrested “without cause” by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) between 2017 and 2019. The organization is seeking damages of $5,000 for each of these individuals.
More details to come.