what’s next for the montreal police? community leaders say it’s regulating random stops

ever since allegations of racism in a montreal police unit surfaced on friday, calls for deep-rooted changes to the police force have resounded among racialized communities. but what, concretely, do these changes look like?for leaders of the organization afro youth summit, the next step is bringing an end to random police traffic stops — or at least regulating them.“just the same way a police officer cannot go into your house without getting a court order. we don't require that you get a court order, but at least call in the office so that it's documented. so that if anything happens before, then you can say, ‘well, why did you stop him? what was it?’ there has to be a motive — a real motive, and not a figment of their imagination,” said alix adrien, vice-president of the organization, in an interview tuesday after a conference held by the afro youth summit.“it's way too much power to give a person to be able to stop a car, and just because, well, you fit the description of a suspect.” the calls for systemic change come after montreal police (spvm) chief fady dagher announced friday that an internal investigation had been launched into claims that officers on a montreal north patrol team were targeting black and arab citizens. two officers from the team have been suspended and 14 others reassigned or relocated pending the investigation.officers were alleged to have made racist remarks and, according to allegations reported by la presse and radio-canada, some collected pieces of locks to keep as trophies from people they apprehended.allegations of racism in quebec’s police forces are nothing new: in 2022, quebec's superior court found that arbitrary police stops of drivers opened the door to racial profiling and banned the practice in a case brought by joseph-christopher luamba, a black man of congolese descent, who said he had been stopped by police while driving at least 10 times in 18 months for no apparent reason.the ruling, which acknowledged that racial profiling exists and particularly affects black drivers, was upheld by the quebec court of appeal. the case is currently before the supreme court of canada after the provincial government appealed that decision.Édouard staco, president of the afro youth summit, says he also hopes the supreme court declares the practice of random stops unconstitutional, which he believes is an important next step toward systemic change in policing.“police and authorities have never proven that this tool has prevented any crimes. on the other hand, the evidence of disproportionate impacts on people in black and racialized communities is clear. so the harm is well-documented. the benefits are not,” staco said in an interview tuesday.quebec’s justice minister, simon jolin-barrette, previously said that random traffic stops are an important tool for police.adrien says the argument that random stops are needed to ensure safety lacks evidence, noting that the stops are often motivated by racial profiling and not exactly “random.”“we don't want to ban the ability to stop (people), we just don't want it to be random. and believe me, most of us have been pulled over by police officers,” he said, adding that there just needs to be another step so the random stops don’t happen “on a whim” and hopefully have a positive long-term impact.a lawyer specializing in racial profiling cases at the clinique juridique de st-michel, dardia joseph, said in an interview that the scandal at station 39 is just the tip of the iceberg of racism in montreal’s police force. similarly, she says the supreme court hearings are just one small part of the fight against police racism.“we don't reverse centuries of centuries or a decade of racial profiling with only just one decision. it's a systemic problem, and systemic problems need a systemic approach,” joseph said.yves francoeur, president of the police union fraternité des policiers et policières de montréal, said in a letter to union members that treating everyone equally is a value and responsibility of the police. he noted the recent events are particularly hard for the police brotherhood’s 400 racialized members.“i reiterate loud and clear that the fraternity condemns all forms of racism, regardless of who it is directed against,” francoeur wrote in the letter sent on monday, noting the alleged events have caused shame and frustration.