Nova Scotia RCMP to apologize to Black community for historic use of street checks – Halifax [Video]

The commander of the RCMP in Nova Scotia will apologize to the province’s Black community on Saturday for the Mounties’ historic use of street checks.

Now banned in Nova Scotia, street checks involve police randomly stopping citizens to record their personal information and store it electronically — a practice sometimes referred to as “carding” elsewhere in Canada.

A provincially commissioned study released in 2019 condemned the practice used by Halifax Regional Police and the local RCMP because it targeted young Black men and created a “disproportionate and negative” impact on African Nova Scotian communities.

The independent study, compiled by criminologist Scot Wortley, found Black citizens were five times more likely to be street-checked than white citizens. Another study found street checks were illegal in constitutional and common law.

The RCMP issued a statement Thursday saying assistant commissioner Dennis Daley will apologize to African Nova Scotians and all people of African …