Pubdate: Sat, 09 Jul 2005
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Jake Rupert
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.)

CITY POLICE FACE SECOND CHARGE OF RACIAL PROFILING

Black Man Accuses Officers Of Stopping Him Four Times In Last Three Months

A black man who says he's been stopped by police officers four times
in three months for no reason has filed a racial profiling complaint
with the Ottawa police, the second such complaint made against the
city force in recent weeks.

Tristin Jones, 30, a Barbadian who is in the city on a visitor's visa,
said yesterday he's fed up with being hassled and wants it to stop."I
don't do anything," he said. "No drugs, no violence, nothing. But I'm
stopped and searched and hassled. It's because I'm a black man."

Mr. Jones said he filed his complaint after an officer accused him
Wednesday night of dealing drugs while he was waiting outside a
Dalhousie Street sandwich shop for a friend.

He said an officer approached him and demanded he empty his pockets.
He said when he asked the officer why, the police officer told him he
had been seen dealing drugs.

In what he says has become a routine for him, Mr. Jones turned out his
pockets and put his belongings on the sidewalk. The officer then
searched him more thoroughly, Mr. Jones said.

After it was established Mr. Jones had no drugs, the officer then
demanded his identification. He handed over his visitor's visa and had
to wait about 10 minutes while the officer ran his name and birth date
to see if he had any outstanding warrants or was breaching any prior
court orders.

He wasn't, and he says the officer handed him back his documents and
told him he was lucky.

"This is racial profiling," Mr. Jones said. "They see a person like
me, they stop them, and they check them. If they saw me doing
something bad, fine, stop me. But I'm not doing anything bad, and I'm
stopped."

Mr. Jones, who spends his days looking after his 16-month-old daughter
while his girlfriend works, says the first incident occurred three
months ago, after he left a Byward Market bar and was walking home.

He said an officer approached him and asked to see his identification.
He said when he asked the officer why, the officer smiled and said he
just wanted to get to know him better.

About five weeks later, Mr. Jones says the same officer stopped him in
the Rideau Centre and threatened to arrest him for disturbing the
peace when Mr. Jones refused to show him identification.

"I wasn't disturbing anything. I was just telling him to stop
harassing me," Mr. Jones said.

The third incident was about a month ago when Mr. Jones says police
officers picked him out of a crowd of white people outside a tattoo
parlour and asked to see his identification.

Ottawa police Sgt. Mike Laviolette said that, by law, the force can't
confirm or deny if a complaint has been made.

He did say that complaints are taken seriously. They are handed to the
force's professional standards branch, which investigates each one to
see whether it will be dismissed or if charges will be laid under the
Police Services Act or Criminal Code.

Mr. Jones' complaint follows the case of an 18-year-old black man who
says he was harassed and assaulted by Ottawa police.

Chad Aiken was driving his mother's Mercedes at 12:30 a.m. on May 29,
with several friends in the car, when he was stopped by police for
what he says was an hour-long search and interrogation.

Mr. Aiken alleges he was repeatedly punched, put in a headlock and
thrown to the ground by one officer, after asking the officer for his
badge number.

Mr. Aiken was eventually given a $110 ticket for driving with a
burned-out headlight and allowed to go. Part of the incident was
recorded by his girlfriend on a camera phone.

Deputy police Chief Larry Hill said at the time there would be
internal inquiries into the incident.

Mr. Aiken has also filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights
Commission, alleging the incident was a case of racial profiling.
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