In the face of complaints, Vancouver police move to clarify street-check policy

Three months after the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and the BC Civil Liberties Association filed a complaint, a Vancouver Police Department report recommends a formal policy on street checks that meets provincial standards.

The report’s six recommendations include a formalized policy in line with provincial standards, extra training for officers and a call for street-check data to be released each year.

BC Civil Liberties lawyer Dylan Mazur welcomes the report.

“We are asking that there be additional study on the ethics and effect of street checks as a law enforcement practice.”

Back in June, the complaining groups released statistics from a Freedom of Information request that showed street checks disproportionately involved people who were Indigenous or black.

The reports say officers do not stop, question, or detain citizens for a reason based on prohibited grounds of discrimination or engage in racial profiling.