Laval commits to collecting police racial profiling data

The City of Laval is promising changes to its police department, including a commitment to tracking complaints of racial profiling and hiring more visible minorities.

Mayor Marc Demers, a former longtime Laval police officer, acknowledged racial profiling is a problem and stressed that "one case is one too many."

Monday's announcement comes amid growing calls for reforms — and even the defunding — of police services in the United States and Canada following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn.

Earlier this month, a video surfaced showing Laval officers pulling a young black man out of a car by his hair and striking him in the head, after being pulled over for what police described as erratic driving.

At the time, Laval police said they did not have a racial profiling problem, did not collect race-based data and had no immediate plans to do so.

"The best way to make sure there is not such a problem is to say that there is one and take the measures to avoid it," Demers said.

Other reforms announced Monday include equipping officers with body cameras, establishing an intercultural relations training program and conducting more outreach with the city's youth.

Police chief absent

Pierre Brochet, the city's police chief, was not at the news conference, and Laval police declined to comment Monday.

Asked about his absence, Demers said Brochet would address the media at a later date.

In the meantime, Demers said he was working with the city's director general to increase levels of trust between police and minority communities.

A news release about the promised reforms noted Laval's rapidly changing demographics. Between 2001 and 2011, the number of immigrants in Laval climbed by 84 per cent. More than a quarter of Laval's population are now immigrants.

Demers said he wants people from diverse backgrounds in decision-making positions at the city. 

Montreal has also been pressed to hire more visible minorities, and put an end racial profiling and police brutality.

The Montreal police service (SPVM) is set to announce a new policy for street checks on July 8, following a report last year that found Black and Indigenous people were four and five times more likely to be stopped by police and asked to identify themselves.

Racial profiling expert says more details needed

Myrna Lashley, a McGill University psychiatry professor and author of a 2015 report on social and racial profiling by the SPVM, said Laval's plan lacks specifics, such as who will carry out the training sessions and what the consequences would be for police who racially profile.

"There's nothing there," Lashley said. "It needs to be fleshed out for people to have trust."

And for there to be real change on an institutional level, she said there needs to be more self-reflection from city officials first.

"That is painful, because that means looking at your own privilege, the privilege of people who make up the institutions, the privilege of the people who are in charge of the institutions and being prepared to say this is not right."