June 10, 2020: The BC Civil Liberties Association, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and Hogan’s Alley Society – are calling on Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, who is also the Vancouver Police Board Chair and Board Spokesperson, to immediately put a stop to police street checks in Vancouver. A recent review of VPD street checks provided clear evidence that the VPD has been arbitrarily stopping people without lawful authority, including people who were walking in the rain or walking a dog on a church lawn. VPD must put an end to this blatantly arbitrary, illegal, and discriminatory practice” further states Latoya Farrell of BC Civil Liberties Association.

• Indigenous and Black people are significantly over-represented in the numbers of street checks conducted by the VPD. In 2017:
  • Indigenous people accounted for over 16% of street checks despite making up 2% of the population, and
  • Black people accounted for 5% of street checks despite making up 1% of the population.
• In 2016, Indigenous women, who comprise 2% of Vancouver’s women population, accounted for 21% of women who were street checked