Montreal police have unveiled a new street check policy aimed at ensuring officers stop people based only on observable facts.
The policy introduced today prevents police from stopping people based on discriminatory motives, such as a person's race, gender or religion.
Montreal's police service pledged to introduce a street check policy following a 2019 report by independent researchers that found that Black and Indigenous people were significantly more likely to be stopped than were white citizens.
The policy will require officers to collect detailed data after they stop and question someone, such as the person's race, the information gathered and how officers performed the intervention.
Police will also be required to inform a person why they have been subjected to a street check, a practice that involves stopping a person and recording their information regardless of whether an offence has been committed.
The officers will attend workshops and receive coaching on how to apply the policy before it comes into effect this fall.
