‘Long overdue,’ N.S. RCMP commander says in announcing street check apology

The Nova Scotia RCMP says it will finally issue a formal apology next year to African Nova Scotians for the harm caused by the longtime use of street checks.

“I know this apology is long overdue,” Dennis Daley, the commanding officer of the Nova Scotia RCMP, said in a news release Tuesday.

“I acknowledge a lot of work needs to be done to start to rebuild the fractured relationship with the community. That’s why it’s especially important we hear from those who will be affected by the apology. We need to get the apology right and pursue systemic change.”

The RCMP said to inform the apology the force will be making for harm caused by the historical use of street checks and other interactions that have had a negative impact on the Black community, consultation sessions are being held across the province. The first took place Monday night in Gibson Woods, north of Kentville.

Street checks have been defined as an interaction or observation whereby personal and/or identifying information is collected by an officer and entered into a database. 

Scot Wortley, a University of Toronto criminologist, delivered a 186-page report in March 2019, concluding that African Nova Scotians were almost six times more likely to be street-checked than whites in Halifax Regional Municipality. 

Wortley said the practice “contributed to the criminalization of black youth, eroded trust in law enforcement and undermined the perceived legitimacy of the entire criminal justice system.”

Wortley recommended that street checks be banned outright or strictly regulated. 

In response, the Nova Scotia Justice Department first instituted a moratorium on street checks but later upgraded it to a ban after former Chief Justice Michael MacDonald submitted a legal opinion to the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission that the practice was illegal.

Three years ago, in November 2019, Dan Kinsella, then Halifax Regional Police chief, issued a public apology to the Black community in front of about 125 people at the Halifax Central Library. 

Promising to change and do better, Kinsella offered the African Nova Scotia community an apology for generations of negative experiences with the police and the specific police practice of street checks.

“I am sorry for our actions that caused you pain,” Kinsella said. “I am sorry for all those times you were mistreated, victimized and revictimized. While decades of injustices cannot be undone, we are committed to doing better moving forward. My hope is that today’s apology shows you our commitment to change and our promise to do better.”

The RCMP, which shares policing jurisdiction in HRM with the Halifax police, has long been pressured to make a similar apology. 

Tuesday’s announcement finally sets the stage for that apology to happen sometime in 2024.

The 14 consultations, which were recommended by a steering committee struck to move the apology work forward, are being organized in African Nova Scotian communities. The sessions, which will also inform an action plan that will follow the apology, are being hosted by local residents and attended by members of the Nova Scotia RCMP’s senior leadership team.

“To ensure the upcoming apology – and the actions that follow – are meaningful, I’ve established a steering committee to provide guidance and support,” Daley said.

“The members’ expertise and leadership will help us reconcile with the Black community, with the hope of building back trust.”

In addition to RCMP employees, the committee’s membership is comprised of community leaders, including Rev. Lennett Anderson, Vanessa Fells, a member of the African Nova Scotian Decade for People of African Descent Coalition, and DeRico Symonds, an avid advocate for positive change and exceptional youth program developer and youth community worker.

“Nova Scotia is steeped in a remarkable Black history that spans many centuries,” steering committee member Anderson said. “it’s through this lens that we’ve begun the process of collaboration with senior RCMP leadership to help build a meaningful response to the practice of street checks and the development of an action plan.

“We as a community understand the contention surrounding the issue and play a dual role in this work.”

The apology and subsequent action plan will be drafted when the community consultations conclude in November.