Calgary police 'carding' raises concerns, says civil liberties group that filed FOIP request

A civil liberties group is raising questions about Calgary police stopping people in public places and asking them for identification a tacticsimilar to a practice commonly known as "carding" in other jurisdictions.

Through a freedom of information (FOIP) request, the Rocky Mountain Civil Liberties Association received data dating back to 2010 and, while the numbers show a decline in how frequently Calgary police use the tactic, the group says many questions remain.

The police carded people27,735 times in 2015, a decline of 40 per centfrom46,081 such incidents in 2010.

Rocky Mountain Civil Liberties Association presidentKellyErnstnoted there are still tens of thousands of such incidents in the city every year and it's not clear exactly what happens to the information police collect.

• Ontario puts new rules on carding, banning random stops
• Saskatchewan carding policy needed, Regina police chief says

"All of that information is kept somewhere in some database and being shared with other police forces," Ernstsaid.

"So we need to know a little bit more information about the cardingor 'police checkups' as they're called in Calgary than what is readily available."

The police data also revealedpeople are much more likely to be stopped by police in the northeast in District 1 (4,749 incidents) in the city's core and District 5 (5,145)than they arein District 3 (1,837),a central area just north of the Bow River,or District 8 (2,601) at the city's south end.

The association said that raises the prospect of the police targeting minorities and low-income populations.

Carding vs. 'contactinformation forms'

Calgary police spokesman KevinBrookwellsaid what officers do in this city is not, strictly speaking, "carding," which he describes as a term that "came out of Eastern Canada."

"It comes out of another jurisdiction where people directed people who didn't have ID to go to a police station,"Brookwellsaid.

"They were given issued ID and then, moving forward, they were told any time police come to you, you have to show this card. So, absolutely, we do not do that. Never have, never will."

Calgary police do stoppeople and ask them for ID and an explanation of what they're doing and why in some situations,Brookwellsaid, but require avalid legalreason to do so.

"We don't just randomly check people for ID," he said. "There has to be a reason and you have to be able to articulate that reason."

He also said the province is currently reviewing how long information collected through"contact information forms" can be retained once it has been determined to no longer be relevant to an ongoing investigation.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS |Calgary Central Library to deter loitering by installing metal 'fins'
• MORE CALGARY NEWS |8 men arrested in connection to gang-war shootings that plagued city for months