Edmonton police working to address community street check concerns, commission told

Edmonton police are still standing by the effectiveness of street checks, a controversial practice that has faced criticism from the public.

Edmonton police officials told the Edmonton Police Commission Thursday that the EPShasstarted to implement measures some new, some ongoing in response to 17 recommendations found in a recent audit ofstreet checking practices.

The review's recommendations included better dialogue with community members and increasing diversity within the police force. It also recommended addressing privacy issues surrounding street checks.

• 'I don't want to be hassled': Some Edmonton police no longer conducting street checks, says chief

Officials said they plan to address those issues in a variety of ways.

One of the ways is through a public education campaign including pamphlets outlining the function of street checks and how the collected data is used.

But the campaign won't roll out until after the provincial government releases its framework around street checks and the use of the data. The government has not yet announced a timeline for the release of the street check framework and did not respond to an inquiry from CBC News.

Police officials on Thursday spoke about the value in educating the public on carding.

"I can tell you that street checks are a very important tool for policing and really it keeps the community safe," said Kevin Brezinski, acting police chief.

Street checks came under scrutiny last year after information obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request showed police disproportionately stopped black and Indigenous people.

• Indigenous women nearly 10 times more likely to be street checked by Edmonton police, new data shows

Bashir Mohamed has been vocal about the use of the street check data. He reviewed the EPSresponseto the audit on street check practices on Thursday.

He said the police offered little new information.

"I didn't see anything that surprised me," he said. "It just seems like a pretty generic response."

• Anti-carding activist shares black history with Edmonton police commission

Community policing

Police said they would like to work with the community and address concerns around racism and discrimination. They proposeda Community Policing Strategic Plan.

Brezinskisaid he wouldlike to seeofficers get out inthe community more often.

"If we're adequately resourced, we'll have more time to spend proactively engaging with the community and maybe preventing crimes from taking place, which will then lessen the call load for us," he said.

Street checks and community policing are something the new police chief, DaleMcFee, will tackle in his new role, saidBrezinski.

"With our new chief coming in, he's going to have different ideas as well," he said. "He's very community-driven so I think some of our policies may change with his tenure here."