VANCOUVER — Indigenous and civil rights groups complain that the Vancouver Police Department should not be responsible for investigating itself over the issue of significant racial disparity in the department's use of street checks.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association and Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs had asked the province's police complaints commissioner to review the issue, but were told earlier this month that the department would conduct an internal investigation and report to the police board.
In a letter to the police board, the groups say that while it is customary for the police department to investigate policy complaints, they believe a self-investigation in this situation is "problematic."
The groups say they are "highly troubled" by the lack of independence or appearance of a lack of independence, when the department is the only body investigating its own policies.
Instead, they call for an independent study of the practice and for police to work with Indigenous groups to draft policies that protect the personal information of people subjected to street checks.
The groups say the police street checks disproportionately affects people who are black and Indigenous, especially Indigenous women.
