African-Nova Scotian advocates call for street checks to be suspended
HALIFAX — African-Nova Scotian social justice advocates are calling on Halifax Regional Police to suspend their use of street checks.
Halifax lawyer Shawna Hoyte and social workers Robert Wright and Lanna MacLean are asking for an independent review of the practice, and want it stopped in the meantime.
The trio wrote a three-page letter to the province’s Serious Incident Response Team and Human Rights Commission, outlining their concerns with the ethics behind street checks.
Street check statistics released by Halifax police indicate that black people in Nova Scotia are three times more likely to be stopped than white people.