Protesters shut down Main Street ahead of debate over cops in schools
More than 100 people block Main Street to draw attention to demands to ‘defund, disarm, dismantle’ the Hamilton police
More than 100 protesters chanting “Black lives, they matter here” shut down a downtown intersection Monday ahead of a public school board vote on whether to pull police liaison officers out of schools.
The protest, organized by a coalition of Black and racialized residents calling for police to be “defunded,” started with a march down Main Street East that quickly took over the intersection of Main and Bay streets, forcing police to divert car traffic.
Protest participants then staged a “sit-in” on Main Street near city hall as they awaited a debate on whether to end a contentious police liaison program in schools that some Black students have said makes them feel fearful or unfairly targeted.
“We want a full termination of this
program,” said coalition member and student Gachi Issa. “Our voices, our stories, our experiences should be taken into account.”
Issa argued school board officials are “unable” to clearly explain the purpose of the ongoing program, which dates back to the mid-1990s. The program sends 11 officers into close to 200 high school and elementary schools across the public board.
Board members previously voted in early June to review the program, but narrowly rejected a call to pause in-school policing in the meantime.
A temporary suspension was revisited Monday night, however. School board staff told board members they support suspending the program during the review based on concerns voiced by Black, Indigenous and racialized students and community members.
Sharon Stephanian, superintendent of equity and well-being, told board members the policing program “may have evolved beyond” the original community policing model.
She stressed a suspension of the program would not prevent police doing legislatively mandated work in schools like training related to emergency incidents.
But “proactive policing” efforts, including presentations on drugs and sexting, ceremonial activities and outreach and mediation efforts would stop for now.
Issa earned a cheer from the crowd downtown when she urged them to accept “nothing less” than a permanent end to police officers in schools.