Hamilton drawn into provincial debate over carding: regulate or stop?

The debate over police carding and street checks in Hamilton is heating up at the same timethe conversation about thecontroversial policing tacticpicks up across Ontarioand the government is poised to begin regulating it.

A provincial review of the carding and street checks practice will try to navigatebalancingpolice powersand individual Charter rights. AndHamilton's practices,where police revealed new details about Hamilton's practicelast week,willbe included.

Ontario's ministry that oversees police forceswants to hear perspectives from across the province, including Hamilton.

"We believe that all interactions between officers and the public should take place in a way that allows officers to do their work to keep our communities safe, while respecting the human rights of the community members they engage with,"saidLaurenCallighen, press secretary for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

The ministry will provide "clear and consistentguidelines" for police officers, and build public confidence by making everyone involved aware of the new rules"whether you're in Toronto, Hamilton or Thunder Bay,"Callighensaid.

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'Idon't see how that can be justified'

One high-profilevoice against carding came fromOntario's ombudsman AndreMarin. Hecalledit"illegal" as he delivered his office's year-end report on Tuesday. He said when officers engage instopping, questioning and recording information from citizens not under investigation, it's reminiscent of the controversial policing in Toronto during the G20 summit.

"I don't see how that can be justified,"Marinsaid."Whatever benefit the police get out of it is outweighed by the breach of individual liberty involved in carding."

Hamilton's police chief, Glenn DeCaire, maintainsthat the police need the tool in order to connect the dots in high-crime neighbourhoods.

The street checks practice involves stopping people who have not necessarily done anything wrong to question them, record their ID and whereabouts, and later enter that information in the police database.

'Aquestion of the constitutionality of this police practice'

The ministry is "establishing rules to ensure these encounters are without bias, consistent and carried out in a manner than promotes public confidence and protects individual and Charter rights,"Callighensaid.

The ministry is already hearing from some community groups and police agencies, she said, butplans to roll out its formal consultation process soon.

"We're drafting a province-wide regulation; we want to hear all viewpoints,"Callighensaid.

Coun. Matthew Greenhas already written to the province asking for Hamilton's street checks practices to be evaluated.

Green said while much of the attention since the police presentation a week agohas focused on the race breakdown of the police practice, that's not his biggest problem with the practice. Like Marin, Green contends the practice is illegal.

"The arbitrary stopping of citizens and residents of Hamilton, not under investigation, is unconstitutional and counter to our Charter of Rights and Freedoms regardless of race," he said. "Although there are disproportionate impacts on visible minorities, this is primarily a question of the constitutionality of this police practice."

Hamilton Police officers are trained to respect citizens' right to walk away from a noncriminal encounter, Deputy Chief Eric Girt said at the July 23 police board meeting.

But police are not required totell someone on the street about those rights unless they're under arrest, DeCairesaid.

"There may be no legal reason for people to speak to the police, but there is clearly in the law a moral and social obligation to participate in keeping all our communities safe,"Chief DeCairesaid at that board meeting."Similarly there's no legal reason to advise people of those rights that are not activated until that arrest and detention threshold is met."