Activists want police street check review reset
Anti-carding activists are calling for a reset of the Edmonton Police Commission’s street check review, saying third-party researchers hired to study the controversial practice are too close to a law enforcement group.
The commission hired Simon Fraser University professor Curt Griffiths in December to review the Edmonton Police Service’s street check policies. The move was prompted by a freedom of information request filed by Black Lives Matter (BLM) that showed black and Indigenous people are disproportionately stopped and questioned.
In a news release Wednesday, BLM and the Stolen Sisters & Brothers Awareness Movement said Griffiths is too close to the Canadian Police Association, and raised concerns about “questionable” social media posts by a field researcher.
Association president Tom Stamatakis said Wednesday it commissioned Griffiths to conduct independent research, “but we do that to support evidence-based public policy discussion or initiatives. The suggestion that merely because they’re associated with us somehow they’re going to be biased, it’s frustrating.”
A central theme (the commission) kept bringing up ... was that this would be unbiased.
BLM is calling on the commission “to remove these researchers and select unbiased Edmontonbased researchers to conduct the review to ensure impartiality.”
“A central theme (the commission) kept bringing up ... was that this would be unbiased, and a third party, providing a neutral academic perspective,” said Bashir Mohamed, a BLM board member.
In a written statement Wednesday, commission acting chair Tim O’Brien said he has “full confidence in the integrity of Dr. Griffiths and his team and their ability to carry out an independent and unbiased review.”
Mohamed criticized Griffiths’ relationship with the association, in particular that he has conducted research projects with funding from the group.
Said O’Brien: “The Canadian Police Association is the largest commissioner of police-related research in the country supporting evidence-based policies and it is partly this expertise that makes Dr. Griffiths well suited to his current role.”
BLM also takes issue with social media posts from field researcher Josh Murphy, in particular a 2014 tweet about unrest in Ferguson, Mo., following the police shooting of Michael Brown, a young black man. Murphy tweeted “it may be hard to be a young black man in the U.S. But I wouldn’t wish being a police officer in 2014 on my worst enemy.” The researchers did not respond to requests for comment.
The commission said it expects a final report by March 31.
In response, the justice ministry, police commission and police Chief Rod Knecht promised separate reviews of the practice. BLM and two Indigenous groups called for a ban on street checks.