Quebec police face more than 100 racial profiling complaints a year. Few result in discipline
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Loading... - Jack Davis
- 15 Feb 2023
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One Sunday afternoon in September 2019, Hèzu Kpowbié was sitting on a park bench watching his son play when he was surrounded by three police officers, guns drawn.
"I thought I was going to die," said Kpowbié, recalling how terrified he felt at that moment.
"I was really very shocked. And still today — I am still shocked."
Kpowbié's experience in the years since reflects the lengthy, complicated and often futile battle waged by those who feel racially targeted by police.
The encounter took place in Repentigny, a suburb of Montreal.
Kpowbié, who is Black, was holding a letter opener his son's friend had brought to fix a remote-control toy car when police approached, after someone called 911 reporting a man with a knife. His surprise quickly turned to fear.
Guns pointed at him, Kpowbié was ordered to the ground, handcuffed and detained in a police cruiser for half an hour, while his eight-year-old son looked on. Police gave him a $150 ticket for possession of a weapon. (A municipal court judge later threw out the ticket, and praised him for his conduct.) Read More…
