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Independent expert to release report on Halifax police street checks

HALIFAX — A long-awaited report on Halifax police street checks is expected to be released today.

September 18, 2017  By The Canadian Press


An independent expert selected by the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission to examine police street checks will make a presentation at the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners meeting.

Halifax Regional Police Chief Jean-Michel Blais has said he expects new policies on street checks to be in place this fall.

Police released data earlier this year that showed black men in Halifax were three times more likely than whites to be subject to street checks.

The January report from the Halifax RCMP — which patrols certain parts of the Halifax Regional Municipality — found that in the first 10 months of 2016, 41 per cent of 1,246 street checks involved African-Nova Scotians.

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The Halifax Regional Police figures showed that of the roughly 37,000 people checked between 2005 and 2016, almost 4,100 were black, despite making up only 3.59 per cent of the municipal population.

News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. 2017


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