The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, published his “guideline” on police arrests at the end of 2023, in a desire to “fight against racial profiling”. However, its new directives are part of the status quo, researchers worry, while police directors rather fear an effect of “police disengagement”.
Dated November 30, Mr. Bonnardel’s guideline follows the adoption, in October, of Bill 14 on the modernization of police practice.
This directive “aims to prevent any form of racial and social profiling” during police stops and road interceptions made under the Highway Safety Code. It prohibits police officers from making arrests “arbitrarily or based on grounds of discrimination or oblique reasons”. It stipulates in particular that arrests must be based on “observable facts”.
“For the population to feel safe, we must be able to continue to make racialized people feel unsafe. We can therefore continue to carry out profiling,” he said. Duty Mariam Hassaoui, lecturer in sociology at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), explaining her opinion on Mr. Bonnardel’s decision. She described the minister’s work as “very unsatisfactory”.
Mme Hassaoui is one of the independent experts who produced, for the City of Montreal, two reports on police arrests. The researchers — which also included UQAM professor Victor Armony — concluded that in 2021, Indigenous people were six times more likely to be arrested than white people. Among the black population, the proportion was 3.5 and among people of Arab origin, 2.6. Their most recent study, unveiled in June, recommended the imposition of a moratorium on police stops.
“We came to the point of saying: let’s stop this practice which produces, regardless of good intentions, harmful effects,” recalled Mr. Armony in an interview. But, in the absence of a moratorium, it is better to have “a few guidelines” than nothing at all, he qualified. He added that the guideline was nevertheless “a tool that makes explicit what is already supposed to apply, because it corresponds, ultimately, to what all the charters and laws say about non-discrimination.”
The status quo?
The Ministry of Public Security recalled that non-compliance with the guideline “constitutes a disciplinary offense”. “Compared to Ontario, Quebec has chosen to regulate the practice of police arrests and to fight against racial and social profiling rather than prohibiting this practice and thus depriving the police of important leverage in terms of fight against crime,” wrote public relations specialist Louise Quintin.
For Lynda Khelil, of the League of Rights and Freedoms (LDL), Minister Bonnardel is satisfied, with his guideline, with “ status quo “. “It’s quite simple, in our opinion, it’s a smokescreen,” she told Duty.
The LDL demands an end to arrests in public spaces. She also calls for the abolition of the administrative power which allows police officers to intercept motorists without cause. This police practice is contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, declared in October 2022 the Superior Court, which saw it as a “sneaky form of racism”. The judgment was appealed.
Disengagement and interference
For its part, the Association of Police Directors of Quebec says it is “very concerned that such guidelines create police disengagement in a context of armed violence very present in Quebec.”
In an interview, its general director, Didier Deramond, spoke of “a difficult balance to achieve”. He pleaded in favor of “good communication” on the part of police officers who carry out stops or road interceptions. “The person can think what they want, but it’s about the police officer giving them the right information,” he explained.
The LDL has often argued the need for a police officer to remind a person arrested that they are not obliged to answer the questions asked of them. “I don’t see if we have observable facts [pour interpeller une personne]how we can tell him: “You can go away”,” argued Mr. Deramond instead, emphasizing the importance of explaining the reasons for the arrest.
Mr. Deramond also fears that the publication of guidelines through regulatory channels opens the door to “political interference”. “I am thinking of the color of the moment, of the political pressure for the government to issue a political guideline,” he said. Requested by The dutythe City of Montreal Police Department said it “takes note” of the guideline.
A “vicious circle” of information?
In addition to the publication of these directives, Bill 14 provided for the collection of information on arrests, as included in the green paper on the police published in 2021. A report must then be sent to the minister every year.
Already, the police are “feeding” a data bank. They include in particular the ethnocultural affiliation of the people arrested. “We go there based on perception, because it’s definitely a bit unusual to ask that,” explained Mr. Deramond. He underlined, on the other hand, the need to have “convincing data” on the origin of the people arrested.
For meme Hassaoui, as with the LDL, the information collected during arrests is problematic for other reasons. “This has the consequence of “file” people, without reason”, underlined the first. “As soon as a person is in this bank, there is a suspicion which is perpetuated thereafter. It’s like a vicious circle,” added M.me Khelil, from the LDL. She considers this to be an “abusive collection of personal information”.