It's always been there for those who are not white. Or who look in any way "foreign".  I suspect that, under pressure from the US, we'll be seeing a great deal more of this.

Okay, read up on this now. They are already doing the "Street Checks" as graeme suggests. What they are now planning is to give people stopped for questioning a receipt to show that they were stopped and questioned. The goal is to better track who is being stopped in light of studies showing that, as graeme says, certain visible minorities are stopped significantly more frequently. It's those receipts that have been delayed, not the street checks themselves, which already happen.

Cite: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/1288012--toronto-police-bo...

Mendalla

Ugh a few typos in the OP.  Yes Mendalla, from what I've heard the receipts were going to be implemented as it gives the civilians a hard copy if they want to file a complaint, and will hopefully keep the police a little more accountable.  They were delayed as they were printed before they were reviewed.

I'm not concerned about the reciepts though, the story just informed me about the street checks!

Why are these checks even being done?  Has anyone here heard of them before?

I searched two cities.  One does 'street checks' but no other information was given.  This came up in my other search (even though I wasn't searching Moncton)

Street Checks
Any police officer in the City of Moncton can do a street check. A street check is
simply a record of police contact with a known or suspected offender. The officer
makes note of the following information: the time / date of the contact, location,
offender description, offender associates, and reason for the contact. This information
is then relayed to the crime analyst who monitors all of these street checks
and compares them with known criminal activity in the same area.

Sounds very different than what's happening in TO.

Graeme, I wasn't so naive as to think that nothing like this ever occurred.  I just thought it would have been a few cops pushing what 'suspicious' was though.  I didn't realize that it was a standard protocol.

My son was stopped by the police one night as he made his way home from the university one night.   He is, and was, a big boy with a swarthy, dark complexion from my black Scots and his father's Acadian genes.   It was dark, about 2:00 am, and he was on foot.

Name, address, where he was coming from (a party), where was he going (home, my house is right over there on the next block). 

You're not planning to cut through any back-yards are you?

No, there is a public walkway between these two streets, and right next to our house.

Ok - go strait home.

I intend to.

So he continued on his way 100 yards or so with the police car following along until he turned down the path.  Then, as he reached home, and put his key in the door, the police car, having gone round the block, passed in front of the house.  The policeman returned his wave. 

Harassing?  Profiling?   Or just doing their job, paroleing the neighbourhood, protecting the homeowners, protecting my son?  

Well, the catch is you are probably protected only from dark-complexioned prowlers.

My experience with police has been that they quickly share strong feelings about certain groups. As a result, it is common for them to have strong feelings about people who look or behave in any way differently. I remember well a friend who joined the force, and couldn't wait for those peace protestors to hit the streets so he could punch out those "shit-distrubers".  There's a sort of group mentality like those you can find in most human groups.

Seeler, maybe the police just don't do it here.  I know someone who got stopped one time walking.  He is a big guy, with tattoos.  He was carrying a pool stick, maybe in a case, I don't remember the details.

He got questioned, but it was about what he was doing, what was he carrying and where was he going.  Not his name and address.  Even that started to get a little silly after he was asked what he was carrying - a pool stick and where he was going - to go play pool!  To me that isn't way out there though.  In Toronto, it's not just the asking of these questions, it's also recording all of them.  In your son's case, I think many of the questions were inappropriate.  Being told to go straight home was also wrong, assuming there were no curfew laws.

I am surprised by the number of people willing to answer the questions.  There are things I don't want recorded about what I do, or who I associate with, especially in a large group where I don't know people well and what their plans are once we go our separate ways.

There is also the issue of trusting someone just because they say they are an authority figure.  A teenager was kidnapped.  She was sick and drove to the store to get things like orange juice.  Someone in a nearby vehicle said he was a cop and she believe him, trusted him.  Freely giving out your name address and other personal details just because someone has requested them isn't always a good idea.  The police are sending mixed messages.  We are told to be careful about giving out information because of identity theft, house break-ins, stalking, etc, but then the police want us to provide that information just because someone has a uniform?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2009/03/02/reddeer-penhold-k...

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09/14/deerfoot-mall-kidnapping-man-sen...

I like having police walking around.  I do think it improves safety and reduces crime.  I don't think I'm over-suspicious of police, I have no problem giving my address when it makes sense to do so or stopping if pulled over on a well-travelled road.  I just think a pleasant 'how are you this evening?' is enough when someone is walking to their destination.

In Montreal, if you wanted new tires at a good price, you could call a guy and have the tires, in their original wrapping, delivered to your door in a police car. Police acted as protectors of illegal gambling, and on one occasion I know of, assisted thugs in disposing of a body.

There is a bill now before US congress to allow police to check anybody's e mail - without warrant or even cause. Canada will follow. We are moving into a police state. The police may not be such a comforting presence then.

graeme

I should add that I don't mean to suggest that all police are thugs. But certain types are attracted to certain jobs. A person who loves intellectual stimulation is not likely to become a lifeguard. What attracts some people to police work is the promise of violence which brings with it the approval of those in authority, a spirit very evident in those who join the riot squad. And this is reinforced by a strong desire to conform with others in the force.

When working with teenagers, I noticed that those who joined the police force and those who became violent criminals often came from the same social groups. I particularly remember one who, almost comically, liked to walk with a scowl and a swagger to scare everybody he passed. He became a policeman, lost the job when driving his own car recklessly, striking a pole and leaving him with just enough of a handicap to disqualify for further service.

He entered a shady business with a friend. One day, h e drove his friend to a lonely spot, stopped the car, said he was going off for just a moment to look at a piece of property. As he disappeared into the trees, it just happened that a hitman came by and shot his friend.

Add to this that police in the US now keep extensive lists not only of criminals but of people whose political views are not pleasing to those in power. They are now equipping the police with thousands of drones which actually pick out faces, intercept cell phone calls and, in the not distant future, will be able to see through some walls.  All of t his without warrant,

All people need to kept within certaiin limits in a free society. Police should not be an exception to that rule.