Police chief praises meeting on carding despite protests
Some community members hoping to speak with Edmonton’s police chief about carding were locked out of a meeting Wednesday, while those who took part said progress is being made on discussions about random street checks.
Members of Black Lives Matter, a group of activists that released data on carding people of colour in Edmonton, including Bashir Mohamed and Reakesh Walters, along with representatives of community organizations, were invited to a “private, secret” meeting with Chief Rod Knecht on Wednesday at the police information checks building in the Nexus Business Park on 118 Avenue to speak about carding.
Walters and Mohamed said they would not enter the secure facility unless other people who had experiences to share could also go in. But those community members were denied entry.
“They don’t want us to be part of the conversation with our community, they don’t want public conversation, they want to control the conversation and decide who gets to talk,” Walters said prior to the meeting.
Those in the meeting who spoke afterward said it went positively.
“We had tremendous engagement,” Knecht said. “Everybody spoke up, everybody spoke their mind. There were some bumps in the conversation, but actually, we came to an agreement on four issues that we the police and the community can work together on.”
The four points agreed upon were the need for community consultation; a better definition of a street check; an overhaul of police policy involving the community; and retraining of officers and addressing the perception of street checks.
“I was blown away; there’s a lot of wisdom in the room,” Knecht said after the two-hour meeting. “A lot of great people with great suggestions, totally engaged and just a fantastic meeting. I’m actually exhilarated by what transpired here today. I think we can get this right.”
Knecht said it was “disappointing” that Mohamed and Walters did not attend.
Kari Thomason with Métis Child and Family Services, who attended the meeting, said getting rid of street checks would be a bad idea and told reporters after the meeting that street checks are for the community’s own good.
Street checks helped find missing Aboriginal women, she said.